Scars Never Fade 2: In Shadows
by Vampires Will Never Hurt Us
Summary: Kite's five kits have finally been given their apprentice names, but life is not perfect for any of them. Summary inside. Sequel to Scars Never Fade 1: I Am. Rated for major character death.
1. Allegiances

**Yay! Time for the second installment/book/thing! Hooray! =) Here are the allegiances.**

**ThunderClan**

**Leader:** Firestar-handsome ginger tom

**Deputy:** Graystripe-long-haired gray tom

**Apprentice,** Nightpaw

**Medicine Cat:** Leaftail - light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes and white paws

**Apprentice,** Barleypaw

**Warriors:** Mousefur-small dusky brown she-cat

**Apprentice,** Gingerpaw

Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom

**Apprentice, **Snowpaw

Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat

Cloudtail-long-haired white tom

Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom

**Apprentice,** Hollypaw

Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom

Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches

Brambleclaw-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Ashfur-pale gray (with darker flecks) tom, dark blue eyes

**Apprentice,** Birchpaw

Rainwhisker-dark gray tom with blue eyes

**Apprentice,** Talonpaw

Sootfur-lighter gray tom with amber eyes

Squirreltail-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

**Apprentice,** Larchpaw

Sorreltail-tortoiseshell and white she-cat with amber eyes

Spiderleg-long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

Shrewtail-small dark brown tom with amber eyes

Whiteheart-white she-cat with green eyes

**Apprentices:**

Gingerpaw-tabby ginger she-cat with green eyes

Snowpaw - white she-cat with green eyes

Nightpaw - jet-black tom with blue eyes

Barleypaw - black-and-white tom with blue eyes

Talonpaw - ginger tom with blue eyes

Birchpaw - light brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Larchpaw - brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Hollypaw - pale gray she-cat with amber eyes

**Queens:**

Kite - dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Ferncloud-pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat, green eyes

**Elders:**

Frostfur-beautiful white she-cat with blue eyes

Dappletail-once-pretty tortoiseshell she-cat, the oldest cat in ThunderClan

Speckletail-pale tabby she-cat

Longtail-pale tabby tom with dark black stripes, retired early due to failing sight

Goldenflower-pale ginger coat, the oldest nursery queen


	2. Plot Summary

Plot Summary

Kite's five kits have finally been given their apprentice names, but life is not perfect for any of them. Barleypaw is receiving dreams from a ghost of his past, Gingerpaw finds herself shut out by her Clanmates, and Talonpaw finds that his strength fails him at the most important time in his training. Meanwhile, Snowpaw and Nightpaw discover a special connection between themselves and a band of mysterious cats that may change life as ThunderClan knows it forever.


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Snowpaw

"Snowpaw, get up!" a voice meowed, poking me in the side. I opened my eyes groggily and scanned the apprentices' den. Birchpaw was standing over her, his eyes weary.

_He must not have gotten much sleep, either,_ I noted. "What is it?" I demanded.

"No one can sleep with all your snoring," Birchpaw snapped. "And besides, Ashfur wants to take all of us on a tour of the borders, and we can't leave until you're up. So, come on." With that, the tom turned and left. I rose to my paws and padded after him. Outside, Talonpaw, Nightpaw, Gingerpaw, Hollypaw, and Larchpaw were waiting by the camp entrance with Ashfur, Rainwhisker, and Brackenfur.

"Great," Ashfur meowed cheerily. "You're up. Let's get going; Firestar says he doesn't want us out too late."

"Where's Barleypaw?" I asked, realizing suddenly that my youngest brother was missing from the large group of apprentices.

"With Leaftail," Rainwhisker replied. "He's a medicine cat apprentice now, remember?"

"Right," I murmured, following the rest of the patrol out of the camp. I wondered how _his_ first day as an apprentice was going.

Slowly, we made our way through the span of territory. First, Ashfur led us down to the Sandy Hollow, where he explained we would all be doing battle training soon. He also pointed out Sunningrocks, and explained the feud RiverClan and ThunderClan had had for many seasons over whose territory it was on. Then, Brackenfur led the group to Tallpines, and showed us the Twolegplace, giving us a strict warning against going there. Then, Rainwhisker opted to take us up to Snakerocks, then showed us the Thunderpath as well, pointing out ShadowClan's terrritory on the other side.

"ShadowClan?" Talonpaw hissed apprehensively. "Why do they even live here? They don't deserve to be called a Clan!"

"Talonpaw!" Rainwhisker snapped to his apprentice. "That is no way to speak about another Clan, whether they are our enemies or not. StarClan put them in this forest for a reason."

"But they're our _enemies_!" Talonpaw pointed out exasperatedly.

"Anyway," Ashfur cut in. I noticed Rainwhisker shoot him a thankful glance. "We should probably show them the Owl Tree and Fourtrees. Then, we can head back to camp, and maybe even get in a bit of battle training."

"Which we're going to need for when ShadowClan attacks us again," Talonpaw muttered under his breath. I growled warningly, and he shook his head angrily.

Soon, we were finished with our tour of the territory, and the eleven of us made our way back to the camp. It was about sunhigh when we returned, and my belly was snarling with hunger. Immediately, I made my way to the fresh-kill pile to eat. It seemed as though Larchpaw and Talonpaw both had the same idea in mind.

"Well, that was...fun," Larchpaw commented boredly as I dragged a mouse off the top of the pile of prey. Newleaf was just setting in, and the pile of prey was slowly being replenished.

"I wish we could have just skipped the tour and gone straight to battle training," Talonpaw replied. "My paws are about to drop off from walking so much!" The tom snatched a finch from the pile, and offered to share with Larchpaw. I munched silently on my mouse as Talonpaw rambled on about how he knew the next day of training was going to be better than the first, and that he was sure he would be a great warrior someday.

"You shouldn't boast, you know," Larchpaw meowed all-knowingly. "It's very rude. And besides, what if you turn out to be a total failure? Then you'll get all depressed and there'll be no point in your life. You have to set your expectations just a bit lower."

Talonpaw flattened his ears defensively at the she-cat's words. "That's not very nice," he muttered.

"But it's the truth," Larchpaw pointed out.

"Whatever," Talonpaw replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I _know_ I'm going to be a great fighter someday anyways." He took another bight of the finch and nudged it back toward Larchpaw.

I swallowed my last bite of food just as Dustpelt, my mentor, padded out of the warriors' den. His ears pricked up when he saw me.

"Snowpaw!" he called, flicking his tail to beckon me. I said good-bye to Talonpaw and Larchpaw, and bounded off to join my mentor.

"Hi, Dustpelt!" I mewed cheerily. "What are we doing today?"

"Well," Dustpelt replied. "I was thinking we could go on the hunting patrol." He gestured toward the camp entrance, where Shrewtail and Spiderleg stood, flicking their tails anxiously.

"Cool," I meowed. Dustpelt purred and led me off to join the patrol.

The four of us padded through the forest for a while, heading toward Snakerocks. I was eager to visit Snakerocks again, and hopefully catch a snake or two for the Clan. Unfortunately, we stopped before we could get too close.

"Go ahead," Dustpelt urged me. "Tell me what you can smell."

I stuck my muzzle in the air and breathed in deeply through my nose. Most of the scents were not to my interest: moss, dew, and the Thunderpath; but there was one smell that caught my attention. It was warm and alive, coming from behind a nearby tree. I screened through the other scents, trying to give a name to the mouthwatering morsel that lay just a few foxlengths ahead.

"Vole," I decided at least. "I think it's vole."

"Very good," Dustpelt meowed. "Now, let me demonstrate how to properly catch a vole." He crouched down low to the ground, his hindquarters up in the air.

"Try to keep all your weight on you hind paws," he instructed. "And keep your tail flat. You don't want you prey to see you. Also, stay downwind of your prey, so that it doesn't smell you." Slowly, silently, Dustpelt crept forward. I examined him carefully, trying to trap each movement in my mind so that I wouldn't fail the first time I tried.

Dustpelt was barely a rabbit hop away from the vole when, suddenly, the wind changed direction, and the dark brown tabby tom was upwind. The vole became visible as it darted away from Dustpelt. The warrior leapt after it, claws unsheathed, and came crashing to the ground a heartbeat later, the edge of his claws less than a whisker length away from the fleeing vole's tail.

"Nice catch," Shrewtail teased. Spiderleg _mrrow_ed in agreement.

Dustpelt got to his paws and shook his pelt angrily. "Watch out for wind changes, too," he muttered as he stalked back toward me.

"_I _thought you did well," I put in, hoping to quell my mentor's anger.

"Thanks," Dustpelt meowed more calmly. "Shrewtail," he mewed, turning to face his son. "Why don't you find the next critter for us? It would be a great help."

"Sure," Shrewtail replied smugly. "I'd _love_ to help you hunt."

I recoiled as Dustpelt growled at the younger warrior. They shouldn't be that angry over a lost piece of prey. I wanted to say something, but I kept my muzzle shut as we plodded off to another hunting location. This one was closer to the Thunderpath. It wasn't long before Shrewtail's ears pricked, and he dropped instinctively into a hunter's crouch. Slowly, he stalked toward a holly bush. I watched him closely, too, to see if there were any variations in his style of hunting.

The tom let out a mew of triumph as his jaws closed around the neck of his prey. A moment later, there was a muted crunch as he snapped the neck of a small squirrel.

"And _that's_ how you hunt, Snowpaw," Shrewtail meowed as he spat the hairy piece of fresh-kill on the ground and covered it with leaves.

Suddenly, a new scent hit me, and I stuck my nose in the air.

"Mouse," I hissed, dropping into what I hoped was a hunter's crouch. I focused on putting as much weight as possible on my hind legs as I dragged myself forward. Soon, the tiny gray mouse was within view. It sat on its haunches, facing away from me, nibbling on a seed. I waggled my haunches and pounced, claws unsheathed.

The mouse squeaked in terror as I bit its tail and dragged it toward me.

"Kill it!" Spiderleg urged. I spat the mouse on the ground and bit into its neck before it had a chance to run away. Then, I turned back to face Dustpelt, my chest swollen with pride.

"Well done," Dustpelt meowed, nodding. "Now bury it, and we'll come back for it later."

After that, Dustpelt and Spiderleg both managed to catch a bird, and we gathered up our prey and headed back to camp.

"You did a great job today, Snowpaw," Dustpelt commented as we placed our catches on the fresh-kill pile.

"Thank you, Dustpelt," I replied, dipping my head.

"I should probably be going now," Dustpelt meowed. "Be sure to get plenty of rest tonight. I want you to get up early so we can do some extra training."

"Okay," I replied. "Thanks!"

Once Dustpelt was gone, I turned and padded toward the nursery, eager to visit my youngest sister, Freekit.

Inside the nursery, it was warm and smelled of milk and moss, two of my favorite scents. Kite, my mother, was curled up in her nest, watching as Freekit batted a ball of moss around the nursery.

"Snowpaw!" Freekit mewed as I entered. She darted to my side and nuzzled my flank. I licked her ear happily.

"It's good to see you, Freekit," I meowed. "How are you?"

"I'm _so_ bored!" Freekit whined. "I can't wait until I become an apprentice like you!"

"Speaking of which," Kite meowed. "How was your first day of training, dear?"

"It was fun," I replied. "First, all eight of us went on a border patrol with some warriors, then Dustpelt took me, Shrewtail, and Spiderleg out on a hunting patrol, and I caught this really fat mouse! It was so exciting!"

"Well," Kite meowed. "I'm glad you had a good time. You should probably be getting back to you den now, though. It's getting dark."

"Okay," I mewed. "Bye, Freekit." I stooped down to lick the tiny kit on her head, then turned and padded out of the den.

In the ThunderClan camp, things were starting to get a bit calmer. Talonpaw and Rainwhisker were just returning from training with Birchpaw and Ashfur.

"Talonpaw!" I called, bounding to my brother's side. "How was training?"

"Excellent!" Talonpaw replied enthusiastically. "Birchpaw and I went to the training hollow and practiced some moves. I beat him at least five times."

"Did not!" Birchpaw snapped. "I won a few times, too!"

"Anyway," Talonpaw mewed. "Rainwhisker promised to take me battle training again tomorrow, too. What did you do?"

"Hunting," I replied dully. "It was fun, but it could have been better."

Birchpaw shrugged his shoulders, padding to my side. "I'm sure it'll be more fun once you get better at it," he assured me.

"Let's get some rest," Talonpaw meowed, yawning. "I'm exhausted!"

I meowed in agreement, and the three of us padded into the apprentices' den to sleep.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Barleypaw

The first day of training was rather uneventful for me. Leaftail kept me in the den all day, going over the way to properly heal and dress minor wounds and what herbs to use. Then, she ran through a list of each herb and their uses. She had me recite the list until I knew at least ten of them, then brought in Cloudtail, who had a thorn stuck in his paw, and asked me to try and remove it. Following her instructions, I carefully removed the thorn from its place in the white warrior's pad. He thanked me and left.

Now, it was night time, and I was just settling wearily into my nest.

_I thought being a medicine cat would be exciting,_ I thought, crestfallen. _I want to save my Clanmates. Pulling a thorn out of a warrior's paw isn't a big deal. I want to cure queens and elders from deathly diseases, and treat mortal battle wounds. This is downright boring._

After a while, I fell into a restless sleep.

_The valley was dark. I could only feel the soft moss of my nest beneath my paws. I could not tell if my eyes were open or shut._

_"Hello?" I called warily, rising to my paws. I listened as my voice echoed into the distance. No reply came. "Leaftail? Kite? Freekit? Anyone?" I turned my head and tried to see what was in front of me. I took a cautious step forward, and felt something wet beneath my paws. Rain water? No, it hadn't rained in a while. And it couldn't be melted snow, since leafbare was long past. I took another step into the liquid, and suddenly, I was surrounded by a blinding light. I flinched, snapping my eyes shut as the powerful light flooded my vision. Slowly, I was able to reopen my eyes. I looked down to find that my paws had been stained red with blood._

_I let out a shriek of pure terror as I realized that I was standing in a lake of blood. I turned around and raced away, hoping that I could get out of the blood._

_I had no such luck. I ran for what felt like days before I finally wore myself out and flopped into the pool of blood so that just my head was above the blood. My eyes searched the white sky that expanded above my head touching the edges of the water at the horizon._

_Suddenly, there was a low rumbling that vibrated through my paws, and the blood began to flow downstream rapidly. I tried to swim against the current, but it soon overtook me. Every now and then, my head sank below the surface of the river of blood, and I flailed blindly until the river had mercy on me and let me back up._

_Somehow, I felt as though the river were taking me somewhere; somewhere with purpose. Eventually, I stopped fighting the current and let the river carry me._

_Soon afterwards, the river curved, and I found myself on dry land, away from the river of blood._

_"Barleypaw," an ominous voice meowed, echoing through the air and ringing in my ears. The voice was slightly familiar, but I couldn't quite place the name._

_"Who's there?" I called, rising shakily to my paws._

_"Barleypaw," the voice meowed. "Fulfill your destiny."_

_"What destiny?" I asked._

_"Follow the signs," the voice ordered. Suddenly, there was a flicker at the corner of my vision, and I turned my head. A few foxlengths away stood Ravenpaw, the way I had last seen him, eyes wide, foaming at the mouth. I raced to his side and looked him over, suddenly realizing that I did not yet have the skills to save him. I watched helplessly as, once again, he died._

"Barleypaw!" Leaftail cried. I opened my eyes wide, finding myself back in the medicine den, staring up at my mentor. Her eyes were wide with concern. "Are you alright, Barleypaw?"

"Yeah," I muttered, tearing my gaze away from hers and scanning the floor of the den. I found that I had torn up my nest, and pieces of moss were scattered everywhere. My fur was mussed, too.

"You were screeching in your sleep," Leaftail murmured. "You woke up practically the whole camp."

"I'm sorry, Leaftail," I murmured. "I...It was just a bad dream, that's all."

"Okay," Leaftail meowed. "Well then, you should probably clean up the mess you made, and then we can get to training."

I nodded sullenly and rose to my paws. I felt a bit unsteady, and wobbled a bit as I walked around the den, collecting my moss bits and flattening them back down until it became my nest again. Then, I moved it into the back corner of the den and groomed my pelt quickly, watching as Leaftail padded around the den, idly fixing the small piles of herbs.

"I-I'm done," I informed the medicine cat when my nest was back in order.

"Excellent," Leaftail meowed, padding to my side. "Now, I thought we could go out into the forest, and I could show you the different types of herbs that are in our immediate area."

"Okay," I meowed, and followed the medicine cat out of camp.

Together, we padded through the forest, made our way past the Great Sycamore, and stopped a short distance from Tallpines.

"Here," Leaftail meowed. "We have some tansy. Do you remember what it is for?"

I wracked my brain, searching for the answer. "Uhmmm, the leaves can be eaten to help joint pain, right?"

"Correct," Leaftail meowed, obviously glad that I had been able to remember. "Why don't you gather a few of the fresh leaves for me? Then, we can keep going."

I nodded, biting off a few leaves at the stem and trotting along beside the she-cat as she led us through the forest for a while.

Soon, we arrived at a small patch of bright orange flowers, which I recognized immediately.

"Poppy!" I cried, my voice slightly muffled by the herbs I carried.

"Right!" Leaftail meowed. "Very good. And they are used for...?"

"Aiding sleep," I replied, then quickly added, "And they can be used as a pain reliever."

"Excellent," Leaftail mewed, nodding in approval. "Now, we need to be very careful when we harvest these poppy flowers, for, as you can see, there are very few flowers in this patch, and they take a while to grow back once they are picked. There are more flowers on WindClan's territory; Barkface and I are trying to work out a system where we exchange herbs once every two moons, but Tallstar is being a bit stubborn at the moment. So for now, why don't you just take three flowers?"

I nodded and plucked three of the bright flowers from the patch, then moved on.

At about sunset, we had finished touring the forest, and had gathered a good amount of herbs, as well. My jaw ached from carrying so many leaves, roots, and flowers around all day, and I was relieved when I finally spat them out and helped Leaftail sort them into their proper piles.

After I was finished, Leaftail permitted me to go and get something to eat. I raced out of the medicine den, my stomach growling, and skidded to a stop beside the fresh-kill pile. Talonpaw and Larchpaw were already there, sharing a squirrel happily.

"Hey, Barleypaw!" Larchpaw meowed, flicking her ears in acknowledgement. "How was training?"

"Great," I replied, dragging a vole off the top of the pile and biting into it. "What did you two do today?"

"Battle training," Larchpaw replied. I noticed Talonpaw's ears flatten in response, and wondered why he seemed so distraught. Talonpaw loved practicing his battle moves.

"Larchpaw," he meowed, his voice pleading.

"What?" I asked. "Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"I beat him," Larchpaw replied triumphantly. "_Five _times in a row."

"I almost had you the fourth time!" Talonpaw defended.

"Sure," Larchpaw meowed playfully, purring.

Talonpaw muttered something under his breath and took another bite of his squirrel.

"It must be lonely in the medicine den," Larchpaw commented. "You know, without anyone to talk to."

"I have Leaftail," I pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Larchpaw agreed, nodding. "But, I mean, I'm sure it's gonna get boring eventually, always being alone, with no apprentices to talk to at night. And just imagine, having to wait until Leaftail dies to actually start doing your duty as a full medicine cat! The thought of it is simply unbearable."

"But it'll be worth it all in the end," I replied.

"Maybe," Larchpaw mewed, then returned to focusing on her meal.

I finished the vole quickly, swiped my tongue over my muzzle, and said good-bye to my brother and Larchpaw. Then, I returned to the medicine den.

That night, I dreaded sleep, fearing that my horrifying dream would repeat itself. I tried my best to stay awake after Leaftail had fallen asleep, but soon, I was dragged into a light, restless sleep.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Talonpaw

The next day, Rainwhisker allowed me to take a break from training, since we had trained so hard the previous day at the sandy hollow. So I stayed in the apprentices' den and napped all day.

Soon, I was awoken by the ritual call of Firestar. I padded out into the clearing and took a seat between Birchpaw and Larchpaw.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Firestar's announcing who's going to the Gathering," Birchpaw meowed excitedly.

My paws tingled with excitement. I hoped with every fiber of my being that I would be chosen to go to this Gathering.

"Cats of ThunderClan," Firestar meowed. "Tonight is the Gathering. With me, I shall bring Graystripe, Spiderleg, Mousefur, Brambleclaw, Gingerpaw,Sootfur, Shrewtail, Cloudtail, Hollypaw, Barleypaw, Leaftail, Talonpaw, and Ashfur. We will depart at sunset."

The ginger leader dismissed the meeting with a flick of his tail. Birchpaw groaned in disappointment.

"What?" he meowed angrily. "I can't believe he didn't pick me to go to the Gathering!"

"It's OK, Birchpaw," I meowed sympathetically, placing my tail on his shoulder. "I'm sure you'll get to go to the next one."

"How did I not prove myself?" Birchpaw demanded.

"We've only just begun our training," Larchpaw pointed out. "I didn't get chosen to go, either, so I know how you feel."

"Whatever," Birchpaw grumbled. "I'm going to go take a nap." With that, the young apprentice stalked off.

After that, I had a while left before sunset, and so I decided that I would try to join the sunhigh hunting patrol, just to sharpen my skills a bit.

Thornclaw, Brightheart, and Squirreltail gladly accepted my request, and the four of us went off to hunt.

"Did you hear about Mousefur?" Squirreltail whispered when we were a good distance away from the camp.

"No," Thornclaw meowed, sitting down beside a bush. "What happened?"

"I heard she's moving into the nursery!" Birghtheart replied. "She's carrying kits!"

"Whose kits are they?" Squirreltail asked.

"Are we even going to go hunting?" I cut in.

The warriors ignored me, as though I weren't there.

"I hear they're Cedarheart's!" Brightheart meowed.

"From ShadowClan?" Thornclaw gasped in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Squirreltail put in. "And Firestar said he's going to let he _keep_ the kits!"

"We can't have half-clan kits in ThunderClan!" Thornclaw protested. "Give 'em to ShadowClan!"

"Thornclaw!" Brightheart gasped. "You know ShadowClan wouldn't accept half-clan kits, either. We just need to accept Mousefur's decision. She can love whoever she wants."

I groaned and padded away into the forest. The patrol wouldn't miss me.

Once I was far enough away from the gossiping warriors, I focused mainly on hunting. I had picked up the hunter's crouch from Snowpaw after the first day of training, and hoped that I could bring back something for my Clan to prove that I wasn't worthless.

Soon after, I returned to the group of gossipers, a vole and a finch in my jaws.

"Great job, Talonpaw!" Thornclaw meowed. "Now we won't have to go hunting ourselves! Come on, let's get back to camp." The tom flicked his tail and led the way back to camp, Brightheart and Squirreltail at either of his flanks, whispering to him in excited tones.

Once inside the camp, I deposited my catches on the fresh-kill pile and returned to the apprentices' den. I found Birchpaw sitting in his nest, pouting, his ears flat against his head.

"Hey, Birchpaw," I meowed, settling down beside him. "Did I miss anything?"

"Mousefur moved into the nursery," Birchpaw replied gruffly. "Apparently she's gonna have a few half-clanners. The father's from ShadowClan, but she's not saying who it is. I'm sure it'll get around eventually, though."

"Hmm," I mumbled. "I already knew that, actually. Squirreltail, Brightheart, and Thornclaw wouldn't shut up about it the whole time we were on patrol! And I was the only one who caught anything."

"Well, that stinks," Birchpaw muttered. "But not as much as not being invited to the Gathering!"

"Would you stop your whining?" I snapped irritably. "It's just one stinking Gathering! There'll be more!"

Just then, Firestar called for the cats that would be attending the Gathering. I mewed a good-bye to the furious Birchpaw, then bounded out into the clearing to join the gathering group of warriors and apprentices.

"Talonpaw!" Barleypaw called, bounding to my side. "I can hardly wait to go to the Gathering! It's going to be _so_ exciting!"  
"I know!" I cried. "I hope we get there soon." Firestar flicked his tail then, and we all followed him out into the forest.

The trek to Fourtrees was not too long, nor was it short, though. By the scent of the air when we arrived, we were the third group to show up. The only Clan that was missing was ShadowClan. Firestar led the charge down into the clearing. I raced along jubilantly, my tail raised high in the air, and skidded to a stop amid the gathering of cats from every Clan.

Soon, Barleypaw joined me, and the two of us wove through the clearing, searching for other apprentices to talk to. Soon, we found a gray tom and a smoky gray tom sitting near a fern bush. With them was a slender tortoiseshell she-cat, who appeared older than the two of them.

"Let's see if they'll talk to us," Barleypaw suggested, then led me to them.

"Hey," I meowed as we approached the group. "Mind if we join you?"

The smoky gray tom with the piercing blue eyes groaned just loudly enough for me to hear, but the gray tom meowed, "Sure thing!"

"Thanks," Barleypaw meowed, sitting down. I took my seat beside him.

"I'm Smokepaw," the gray tom introduced himself, then gestured to the grumpy apprentice beside him. "This is Crowpaw. He's from WindClan. Mosspelt's from RiverClan," he gestured to the tortoiseshell warrior. "And I'm from ShadowClan. You two must be from ThunderClan, right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "We're Kite's kits."

"Ah, yes," Mosspelt mewed. "The famous Kite, runaway daughter of Firestar. You look a lot like him, you know." The warrior gestured to me with her tail.

"I'm Barleypaw, by the way," Barleypaw meowed. "I'm Leaftail's apprentice, and Talonpaw here is Rainwhisker's apprentice."

"Great," Crowpaw muttered sarcastically.

"Wait," I cut in, suddenly realizing something. "I thought ShadowClan hadn't arrived yet."

"We've been here for a while," Smokepaw meowed.

"Oh," I murmured. "I guess my nose just isn't working tonight." I chuckled akwardly.

"Yeah," Crowpaw meowed. "Hilarious. Now, come on. Tallstar's starting the meeting."

The five of us turned to face the leaders of each Clan as the meeting began. Tallstar stepped forward first.

"Welcome, one and all, to the Gathering," he meowed warmly. "Prey is running well in WindClan, and Dawnflower has given birth to one kit, whom she has given the name Marshkit."

The cats of each Clan murmured in approval as Tallstar stepped back and Blackstar stepped forward.

"Prey runs well in ShadowClan, as well," he meowed curtly. "Also, Tallpoppy's kit, Heartkit, has been given her apprentice name. She is with us tonight. Heartpaw, if you would rise?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark gray she-cat with prismatic blue eyes rise to her paws. Her face seemed familiar, though I couldn't quite place the name of the cat whose face it belonged to.

"Wow," a faint whisper came from Barleypaw. I turned to face him. He was staring admiringly at the she-cat, his eyes wide with wonder. "She's...amazing."

The long-haired she-cat dipped her head to the mews of wonder that came from the crowd, then sat back down.

Then, Blackstar stepped back, and Leopardstar padded forward. "RiverClan is experiencing a wave of greencough," she meowed. "But that does not mean RiverClan is any weaker than before. I have nothing else to report."

Firestar stepped forward then. "Eight of our kits have been made apprentices recently," he meowed. "Barleypaw, Birchpaw, Talonpaw, Larchpaw, Talonpaw, Hollypaw, Nightpaw, Gingerpaw, and Snowpaw are the newest additions to our Clan. Also, Barleypaw has taken over the position of medicine cat apprentice."

Murmurs of approval rippled through the crowd as all eyes turned to stare at the new apprentices. I shivered apprehensively. Heartpaw shot a glance at Barleypaw. I turned to see that he was staring back. He purred, and Heartpaw looked away nervously.

"What's going on with you two?" I hissed. "You're a medicine cat apprentice! She's younger than you, anyway!"

"What are you talking about?" Barleypaw snapped defensively. "I don't like her or anything. She's just staring, and I'm trying to be nice."

"Sure," I muttered as the meeting adjourned. As soon as he could, Barleypaw wriggled away from the group and bounded over toward Heartpaw. I turned away in disgust.

"I can't wait for my warrior ceremony tomorrow," Crowpaw boasted. "I _am_ finally twelve moons old, and so it's my time. And besides, I've already passed my assessment test."

"Great," I meowed, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"You'd better get going," Smokepaw meowed, gesturing to where my Clan was gathering. "It looks like it's time for you to get back to camp. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay," I meowed. "It was nice meeting you!" Then, I turned and followed Firestar and the rest of the patrol back up the slope and into the forest.

It took me a while to realize that Barleypaw was missing. I didn't dare alert Firestar of this, for it would probably cause a riot. Instead, I plodded along silenlty through the darkness, wondering what could possibly be taking him so long.

When we returned to camp, Birchpaw immediately assaulted me with nosy questions about every little detail of the Gathering; what Fourtrees looked like at night, who I talked to, what the leaders said. All of the questions distracted me from the disappearance of Barleypaw, and, frankly, I was glad for it.

Once again, I returned to the apprentices' den, my mind clear and happy, and fell asleep quickly.

**Whoo! Two chapters in one night! I think I'll reward myself with a little That 70's Show! I think I might write the next chapter from Barleypaw's point of view. But, then again, I want to cover all points of the story, so I probably won't. Anyways, hope you enjoyed! =)**


	6. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Nightpaw

The next day, I arose right at dawn, already wide awake and ready to train. As soon as I had finished stretching, I searched for Graystripe, my mentor. I found the long-haired gray tom curled up in the warriors' den. Silently, I picked my way past the sleeping forms of the other warriors until I reached the snoring deputy. I prodded him gently on the shoulder with my paw until his head snapped up and he blinked at me, befuddled by sleep.

"Get up, Graystripe," I whispered. "Aren't we going to go to the training hollow and work on our battle moves?"

"Maybe later," Graystripe grumbled.

"But Graystripe!" I groaned, nudging him again as he lay his head back on his paws and closed his eyes. "Graystripe, you promised!" I tugged at his scruff, scrambling backwards in an attempt to pull him out of the den. He jerked his head away, causing me to lose my grip, and I stumbled backwards, tripping over Dustpelt.

"Get off of me!" Dustpelt grunted, heaving me onto the ground. As he stood and shook himself, I heard him mutter, "Lousy kittypet spawn."

I just stared at her in disbelief as she padded out of the warriors' den and into the camp clearing.

_Kittypet spawn?_ I thought. _I'm_ _no kittypet! I-I'm a warrior!...Right?_

I made one more attempt to awaken my mentor, though I was less spirited this time, a bit crestfallen by Mousefur's insult. Eventually, Graystripe rose and led me to the fresh-kill pile, insisting that we eat before we go to the training hollow. He shared a swallow with me, and we ate quickly, not bothering to taste the food as we chewed it up.

"Come on!" I urged as soon as Graystripe had finished his last bite. "We have to start early!"

Graystripe sighed, heaved himself to his paws, and trotted out of camp. I darted along at his heels, eager to begin battle training.

We weren't the only ones at the training hollow. Talonpaw, once again, was training dilligently with Rainwhisker, and Cloudtail was demonstrating a move for Gingerpaw, who looked less than enthusiastic.

"Where's Mousefur?" I asked, noting the she-cat's abscence. "Isn't she Gingerpaw's mentor?"

"Yes," Graystripe replied, nodding. "But she's going to bear kits soon, and so she has moved into the nursery. Now come on, let me show you a few moves."

"Great!" I meowed enthusiastically, sitting in front of my mentor as he began to teach.

"Now," he meowed. "Since I don't want you to strain yourself, we'll start with something easy. First, there's the front paw blow. Keeping your claws sheathed, you simply bring your front paw down on your opponent's head as hard as possible. Like this." The deputy demonstrated the move, pretending there was an invisible warrior in front of him. "Now, you try it on me."

"Right," I meowed, nodding. Then, I crouched low to the ground, and raised my paw to strike. Just as I swung my paw down, Graystripe hopped out of the way.

"That's our next lesson," the tome mewed. "Speed and strength. Now, run at me and try the attack."

I nodded and rushed at my mentor. When I was close enough, I jumped in the air and brought my paw down on his head.

"Good job!" Graystripe meowed cheerily, shaking his head as he recovered from the blow. "But work on the power, too. You need to focus on shifting all your weight into your front paw as you come down."

The concept didn't quite make sense to me, but I tried again.

After my fourth try, Gingerpaw padded over to my side, her eyes bright. "Hey, Nightpaw," she meowed, flicking her ear in greeting. "Wanna train with me?"

"Sure," I replied. "But I only know one move."

"That's fine," Gingerpaw replied. "I can teach you more."

"That's a great idea, Gingerpaw," Graystripe meowed, nodding in approval. "I think Cloudtail and I will do a bit of catching up over here." He gestured to a shady spot under a nearby evergreen tree, and together, he and the fluffy white tom padded off.

"Okay," Gingerpaw meowed, turning back to face me. "Let's train. What do you know so far?"

"Ummm...The front paw blow," I replied.

"That's weak!" Talonpaw cut in, bounding to Gingerpaw's side. His blue eyes were wide with shock. "I would have thought the deputy would have taught you a more effective move first, instead of a simple move like that. Rainwhisker's already taught me more than half the tricks he knows! He says I'm learning the fastest out of any apprentice, and that he'd speak to Firestar about possibly moving my warrior ceremony forward a few moons!"

"Lucky!" Gingerpaw protested.

"Well, Talonpaw," I meowed defiantly. "Since you're the master of the whole forest, why don't you teach us a few moves?"

"Gladly," Talonpaw shot back, narrowing his eyes. "One of the moves I'm best at is the upright lock. Watch." He demonstrated the move for us, rearing up on his back legs and bringing himself down on an imaginary opponent with such great force that the ground beneath my paws trembled slightly. "It's a fight-ender, as Rainwhisker calls them," Talonpaw explained as he rose to his paws once again. "It's supposed to help you end a fight, in case you didn't understand."

"We understand just fine," I snapped angrily. "Let me try it out." I reared up on my back paws and brought all my weight down on Talonpaw, who simply rammed his head into my belly. I fell on my back, and Talonpaw laughed.

"You're hilarious, Nightpaw," he purred, waving his tail in triumph. I flicked my tail in irritation. "I honestly thought you were better than that. I suppose I was wrong, though."

I snarled angrily, narrowing my eyes until they were slits. Gingerpaw backed away nervously, feeling the tension in the air, crackling like lightning. Talonpaw growled under his breath and took a step toward me.

"Talonpaw!" Rainwhisker cried, bounding to his apprentice's side. "What's with all the anger? You brother has done nothing wrong. Graystripe just has different training methods."

"Right," Graystripe meowed, padding to my side and nodding. "And Rainwhisker not teaching his apprentice at the same speed as me doesn't make him a better mentor."

"Exactly," Rainwhisker meowed, touching the tip of his tail to his apprentice's shoulder. "So no more fighting, alright?"

"Fine," Talonpaw muttered, letting his fur lie flat. "But only is Nightpaw admits that _I'm_ the better fighter."

"And why in the name of StarClan would I do _that_?" I growled.

"Because it's _true_!" Talonpaw snapped, his fur beginning to rise once again.

"Enough, Talonpaw!" Rainwhisker ordered harshly, cuffing his apprentice over the ear. Talonpaw flinched in pain. I was surprised that I actually took pleasure in watching him suffer.

"I think it would be best if we left now, Nightpaw," Graystripe meowed, placing his tail on my shoulder and leading me out of the training hollow. I turned my head and mewed a soft good-bye to Gingerpaw as I padded away.

Once I was back inside camp, I dragged myself moodily to the fresh-kill pile and munched on a mouse. Just then, Barleypaw stumbled sleepily through the camp entrance, carrying a bundle of herbs in his jaws.

"Barleypaw!" I meowed, bounding to my brother's side. "Where have you been? You didn't return from the Gathering with the rest of the patrol. Your Clanmates started to get worried. Leaftail covered for you, though."

"I met someone from ShadowClan," Barleypaw replied drowsily, stifling a yawn. "I guess…I guess time just…got away from us. But…I gathered some…herbs….I thought it might…make up for my absence."

"Well, you'd better get those to Leaftail and get some rest," I advised. "Who did you meet?"

"Can we talk about this later?" Barleypaw pleaded. "I'm just _so _tired right now."

"Oh, alright," I meowed, licking my brother on the ear and meowing good-bye as he dragged himself off toward the medicine den.

Once I was alone again, I returned to my mouse, chewing slowly and deliberately, trying to pass the time. I was rather upset about being taken away from training so early.

"It was Talonpaw's fault!" I grumbled to myself as I finished the last of my meal.

"What was Talonpaw's fault?" a feminine voice mewed from behind me. I turned my head to face Larchpaw, her eyes wide with curiosity. She sat down beside me, wrapping her slender tail around her tiny black paws.

"He forced Graystripe to end my training session early," I replied.

"Talonpaw wouldn't do that!" Larchpaw protested. "Would he?"

"He said I was an inferior warrior," I meowed, nodding.

"Tell me everything," Larchpaw demanded.

I happily complied, relaying the entire scene to her, trying to quote the dialogue as best as I could. When I was finished, she was simply staring at me, her eyes wide with horror.

"But…" she mewled. "Talonpaw seemed…so nice! And I thought he treated every cat with compassion! Why would he go and say such a thing? And…to his own brother, even? This is complete insanity! I thought he was better than that!"

I started to ignore the rambling she-cat, doing my best to tune her out as she murmured and growled to herself about how she would kill Talonpaw when he showed up at the camp entrance. The idea filled me with a certain sensation of pure glee, a feeling with which I was not familiar. I had felt happiness before, but this feeling, the feeling of knowing that someone would be hurt and enjoying it, was something completely new. And, quite frankly, I enjoyed it very much. I wanted more. The feeling cleared my head of all pestering thoughts and calmed me.

"Say that again," I meowed suddenly.

"Say what?" Larchpaw asked.

"What you said about what you would to do Talonpaw. And say it with feeling."

"Right," Larchpaw nodded, narrowing her eyes. Then, she recited her previous words, with the exact same feeling and expression. "Why, when that Talonpaw gets back here, I will scratch his eyes out! Once I'm done with him, he'll wish he had never been born!"  
"Thanks," I meowed as this newly attained feeling flooded my veins, filling me with warmth.

"Why did you want me to repeat myself?" Larchpaw asked curiously.

"I don't know," I lied simply. "I just didn't hear you, I guess."

"Oh," Larchpaw meowed. Then, she went on rambling about how much she wanted to strangle Talonpaw.

A while afterwards, Gingerpaw and Talonpaw returned from the sandy hollow, followed shortly after by Barleypaw and Hollypaw, who had been out hunting. Snowpaw came last, padding alongside her mentor happily.

I felt my fur rise as I spotted Talonpaw, and I wanted to spring at him, but Larchpaw beat me to it. She was at his side immediately, meowing furiously at him. A flicker of that strange, homicidal emotion came forward inside me. It died out when Talonpaw and Larchpaw exchanged affectionate licks on the ear and padded toward the fresh-kill pile together.

Furious, I padded toward the nursery, where Mousefur and Kite were sharing tongues as Freekit chased her tail indolently.

"Hello, Nightpaw," Kite meowed, raising her head as I entered. Then, noting the distraught look on my face, she meowed, "What's wrong, dear?"

I quickly relayed to her the events of the day, and told her of my frustration toward both myself and my mentor, but mostly toward Larchpaw, who had let Talonpaw off the hook so easily.

"Well, Nightpaw," Mousefur meowed. "Sometimes you just need to let things drop. I mean, you can't fix everything, right?"

"Sure," I muttered, shrugging. "Listen, I have to go." Without waiting for a reply, I turned and dragged myself toward the apprentices' den, where I moved my nest as far away from Larchpaw and Talonpaw as possible, and fell asleep dreaming of revenge.


	7. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Gingerpaw

The next day, I awoke to find the den completely empty. A familiar chatter was going on in the clearing, though I was too groggy to try to comprehend what was going on.

Finally, my mind was able to make out words. "…and we must be careful," Firestar was meowing. I rose to my paws and padded out into the den, my tail twitching with curiosity.

"What's going on?" I asked, sitting down beside Hollypaw.

"Oh," she meowed, turning to face me. "You're awake. Well, Firestar's telling us that there have been reports of prey bones found inside our territory, and the scent does not belong to any of the Clans."

"Really?" I asked, flicking my right ear in interest.

"I will be sending out two patrols to survey the area," Firestar continued. "The first patrol will search the half of the territory that stretches from RiverClan to the edge of the Thunderpath, and the second patrol will take the rest of the Thunderpath to the Twolegplace.

"The first patrol will have Graystripe, Dustpelt, Brightheart, Squirreltail, Gingerpaw, and Sootfur. The cats in the second patrol will be Spiderleg, Sorreltail, Ashfur, Larchpaw, Sandstorm, and Brackenfur. All training is cancelled today, in case these cats have moved further into our territory."

"This is so exciting!" Larchpaw cried, bounding to my side.

"You're lucky," Hollypaw murmured, flicking her ear. "I wish I could meet these mysterious cats."

"But what if they want to kill us?" I asked nervously.

"Relax," Hollypaw meowed. "I'm sure it'll be fine. If you see them, the warriors will take care of it."

"Right," I muttered, turning and padding toward the camp entrance where the two patrols were gathering.

"Gingerpaw!" Graystripe called, flicking his tail to summon me to his patrol. I nodded and bounded over to the group, adrenaline pumping through my veins. As soon as the two patrols were assembled, we started out into the forest. As the groups split up, I mewed good luck to Larchpaw, who flicked her tail in acknowledgement as she turned away from me.

Silently, the patrol plodded through the peaty undergrowth, every muzzle in the air, sniffing desperately for a scent.

For a long while, we had no luck. In several abandoned badger and rabbit sets, we scented a strange, unfamiliar smell, and Graystripe and Sootfur identified it as the rogues' scent. These scent trails were a few dawns old, though, and the deputy assured us that there was no danger in these burrows. Not long after, though, the scent came again, this time stronger than ever, and fresh, too.

"We've got 'em!" Dustpelt meowed in excitement, bounding toward the source of the smell.

"Slow down!" Graystripe ordered, chasing after the excited tom. The rest of the group sped up in response. I had to sprint to keep up with the fast, strong warriors.

Soon, we came to a large burrow under the roots of a tall pine tree. In the entrance stood a large, muscular black-furred tom with fiery amber eyes, his short hair standing on end as he glared at Dustpelt, who returned the hostile glare.

"Dustpelt!" Graystripe growled, bounding to the senior warrior's side. "Step back. We need not make a battle out of this." Dustpelt let his fur lie flatter and stepped back, though his eyes were still full of hostility.

"What are you doing here?" the large black rogue demanded.

"I think we should be asking _you_ that," Dustpelt snapped.

"Dustpelt!" Graystripe ordered. "Silence!" He turned back to the muscular rogue and meowed, "Though Dustpelt is being rather rude, I do believe he has a point. What are you doing here? Are you alone? Have you been stealing prey from us?"

"Very intrusive, aren't you?" the black tom snapped back, narrowing his amber eyes.

"I do believe this is our territory," Graystripe pointed out. "And we have come to ask you to please leave it. You are worrying our Clan, and we simply cannot share our prey and territory with another cat."

"What's going on out here, Snake?" a feminine voice demanded. A moment later, a tabby she-cat appeared in the entrance to the hollow.

"ThunderClan cats have come to ask us to leave their territory," the tom replied.

"Is this your mate?" Graystripe asked.

"No," Snake scoffed. "This is our leader, Blood. She will drive your weakling Clan out of this territory."

"This territory belongs to us," Dustpelt snapped, puffing out his tail and baring his teeth. I flinched.

"Not for long," Blood meowed. "Cloud! Shadow! Night! Viper! Scar! Frozenwind! Get out here!"

Six large, bulky cats stepped out of the den and circled our patrol. I squeaked in fright.

"Why don't you escort this patrol out of here?" Blood suggested. "But keep the kitten here."

"_No!_" Squirreltail screeched, leaping at a large silver-and-white she-cat, who simply tossed her onto the ground with a jerk of her back. Squirreltail lay on the ground for a moment, stunned, before she could get to her paws again. As soon as she did, the muscular rogue shouldered her back into the group. Then, Snake padded over to me and dragged me toward the den by my scruff. I struggled furiously, kicking and flailing my paws in every direction. It was no use. Every time I moved, Snake gripped my scruff tighter and jerked me, causing me to squeal in pain.

Soon, I was enveloped in pain, and the shouts of protest from my clanmates had faded into the distance. I was dragged through a long tunnel and into a large, spacey hollow far below the roots of the tree, though the tips of some still poked through the roof.

"Welcome," Snake meowed, tossing me on the ground. "To BaneClan, the Clan that will soon inhabit all corners of the forest."

"Who's this?" a lithe she-cat inquired, padding up to me and Snake.

"This is a little kitten from ThunderClan," Snake replied. "We are going to keep her as ransom."

"She looks afraid," the she-cat meowed, her bright blue eyes eying me with sympathy.

"She'll be fine, Rain," Snake assured the she-cat, licking her on the nose. "You know what? Why don't you take her back into the queens' nest and get her settled? You, Dove and Orchid can take care of her."

"Wonderful," Rain meowed, nodding. "I love you, Snake." She licked Snake's muzzle before gesturing for me to follow and padded off toward a small hollow at the edge of the camp. I followed slowly, nervously.

"There's no reason to be afraid," Rain meowed reassuringly, turning back to face me. "Snake and the other Fighters can be a bit harsh, but they're all great cats at heart."

"Really?" I mewled. I felt frightened. The scent that was heavy in the air unnerved me, but Rain made me feel a bit safer. Slowly, she led me into a small hollow made of dirt which was cut off from the rest of the camp. The ceiling , walls and floor were lined with a soft moss that smelled of the forest near my home, which calmed me down a bit more. Inside the den, in nests of bright, sweet-smelling flowers and bird feathers lay two white she-cats. One of them was short-haired with gray eyes, and the other had longer hair and almost violet eyes. They both had the same pointed chins and plump faces, so I assumed they were sisters.

"Dove," Rain meowed. "Orchid, I'd like to introduce you both to…" she turned to face me, a question in her eyes.

"Gingerpaw," I replied quietly. "M-My name's Gingerpaw."

"Gingerpaw," Rain repeated, turning back to face her friends. "Snake and Blood decided to keep her as ransom against the Clan that currently lives in the area in exchange for territory."

"That's horrible!" Orchid mewed, her eyes wide with horror. "I'm so sorry, dear Gingerpaw. Blood can be a bit harsh, but she just wants to bring peace to the Clans."

I nodded silently, not totally believing the queen. _They tried to kill us!_ I thought in dismay.

"Come sit down," Dove urged, gesturing with her tail to a flowery nest full of slumbering kits."

"How many kits are in there?" I asked, trying unsuccessfully to count them all.

"Four from each of us," Rain replied. "Blood requires us to have four kits each. Every five moons, three queens and their kits move out of the nursery and begin training, and three take their place. Each queen mates with three of the strongest warriors in the Clan. If we cannot have kits, we are sent to be full-time Fighters, and once we reach twenty-five moons, we go to live in the Useless den."

"That's a bit young," I mewed. "Isn't it?"

"Not for us," Orchid replied. "You see, we have so many cats in this Clan that, no matter how many cats become Useless, there are always plenty more ready to take over their positions."

"Oh," I meowed. "You must be a lot bigger than ThunderClan, then. We let our warriors choose when they want to become elders."

"That's very interesting," Dove meowed. "But would you like to meet your new littermates?"

"Sure," I replied, shrugging. "Why not?"

"Excellent," Dove meowed, and padded over to the nest occupied by kittens, waking each of them up by nipping their right ears.

First, four tiny black-and-white kittens crawled out of the nest. Each one had either blue or amber eyes. I assumed these were Snake's kits, but I couldn't be sure.

"Gingerpaw," Dove meowed. "Meet my kits Sky, Lake, Cricket, and Mouse."

"Hello," I meowed timidly."

"Hey!" the third kit, and the only tom, mewed excitedly, his blue eyes wide with excitement. "You're not from BaneClan, are you?"

"No," I replied. "I'm from ThunderClan."

"Oh," the tom kit muttered, flicking his tail defensively. "Your Clan won't be much for long."

"Cricket!" Orchid hissed, shooting a warning glare at the kit. "Silence. You must learn to be polite."

"I'm sorry, Orchid," Cricket murmured, letting his tail droop.

"I apologize for my son's rude behavior," Dove mewed apologetically. "I think he gets it from…"

The queen was cut off by a sudden screech from outside the nursery.

"ThunderClan are attacking!"


	8. Chapter 6

**Since I've written chapters from all five POV's, I'mma start mixing up the order a bit. Soooo, enjoy! =)**

**NOTE/WARNING: This chapter contains major character death, so if you love the fuzzy little kittehs I'm about to kill off, please don't hurt me. =0**

**Also, it may seem a bit early in the story for a battle, but trust me, a much bigger battle is going to happen at the end of the story.**

Chapter 6: Talonpaw

It had all happened so quickly. First, the two patrols had returned to camp, their eyes wide with terror, and Graystripe filled the rest of us in on what had happened down at BaneClan's territory, and said we had to come quickly.

Then, Firestar had organized a few loose patrols, organizing cats by their strength, agility, and stealth, then sent them group by group into the forest, led by Graystripe, to the tree under which BaneClan had set up their camp.

I was in the third group, and now we were thundering down into the hollow where the enemy Clan lived. Then a screech filled the air.

"ThunderClan are attacking!"

The terror in the words gave me a good feeling, as though the Clan knew they were being outnumbered, but once we were inside the den, I found that I was horribly wrong. Ever wall was lined with row after row of cats; more cats than I had ever seen in my life. I was sure this Clan was larger than even StarClan itself. Cats of every build and color filled the large den, and their battle yowls echoed off the smooth dirt walls.

"We're surrounded!" Ferncloud cried as the shapes of more cats blocked off the entrance to the camp.

"What are we supposed to do?" Squirreltail cried.

"Stand and fight!" Dustpelt commanded.

Then, as if there had been an invisible signal, the first row of cats charged forward simultaneously, matching their neighbor step for step. They were upon our loose circle of fighters in less than four heartbeats, and the screeching and yowling commenced.

_There's no way we can defeat all of these warriors!_ I thought in dismay.

Before I could think of what to do, two muscular cats about my age leapt at me. I managed to kick one away with my hind paws, but the other grabbed a hold of my scruff and shook me like a mouse.

Several possible attack techniques flashed through my head, but I had no thought of trying to defend myself or run away. I was going to stand and fight. I would _not_ be called a coward.

First, I raised my paw and sliced my claws across the apprentice's nose with such force that he staggered backwards, snarling in pain. As he gathered himself together, I struck again, leaping onto his back and slicing my claws across his flanks. The tom flipped me over and sliced his claws across my underbelly. I screeched in pain and battered his underbelly with my back paws, knocking him off. Rainwhisker quickly intercepted the weakened tom. I didn't have time to thank him; the next attacker was on me quickly.

I fought him as fiercely as I had ever fought before, as he was much larger than me, only vaguely aware of the second and third rows of cats joining the fray. An air of triumph seemed to arise from the cats of BaneClan. They knew just as well as most of ThunderClan that they would win this fight. I refused to accept that fact. They could not wipe us all out in a single day.

My attacker soon fell limp, but I raked my claws across his neck and flanks a few times, just to be sure he was really dead, since Rainwhisker had taught me that he might just be pretending to be dead. When I felt him twitch and his chest fall for the last time, I rose from his side and moved on.

Several dozen opponents later, I was sure I was close to death, though I had no way of being sure, since I had never had death described to me. I had heavily bleeding scratches up and down my flanks, my neck, and my back. I felt dizzy, and the den was spinning.

I knew the young she-cat was coming, but I was not strong enough or willing enough to make myself turn and fight her off. She came quickly and silently, barreling into my flan k and knocking me to the ground. The breath was knocked out of me, and I flailed my paws meekly. Then, I saw her face.

That is, I didn't quite _see_ her face, as I was still in a kind of a haze, but something in the vague picture I had of her face made me want to fight back. My eyes cleared suddenly, and I began battering her belly with my hind paws and slashing at her face with my claws unsheathed. The pale brown she-cat fought back just as fiercely, her silver eyes glinting with a fierceness I had never seen in any cat's eyes.

She raised her paw, claws unsheathed, and prepared for the killing blow, when suddenly, she stopped. I blinked in surprise.

"I'm sorry," the she-cat whispered, then jumped off of me and darted away.

I rose to my paws, still in shock, and shook my pelt. Drops of scarlet liquid flew off of my sides and onto the already bloodied ground.

The fight went on for quite some time, and eventually, the first three waves of cats fell back, and four more came forth. A shout arose from the other end of the den.

"Firestar is dead!" The fighting seemed to stop completely. Even the cats of BaneClan stood completely still, their heads turned in the direction of the shout. I stopped, too, my eyes wide with terror.

"He's lost his last life?" someone asked.

"We surrender!" Graystripe yowled, holding his tail up high.

"Surrender?" A muscular tabby she-cat cried in disbelief, padding toward Graystripe. "We're glad you did. You won't have to risk losing any more of your soft Clan member. Why don't you just leave your territory now? I'm sure it will save you a lot more trouble in the long run."

"We are _not_ going to leave," Graystripe meowed. "But for now, we surrender. You win this fight. Dustpelt, Sorreltail, take Firestar and Ferncloud's bodies back to camp. All apprentices will leave immediately. Brackenfur, Squirreltail, Brambleclaw and I will stay here and speak with Blood and Snake."

I stumbled toward the entrance to the den along with the other apprentices, and we plodded back to camp.

I was vaguely aware of some quiet chatter in the background, but I was too weak to take notice.

Soon, we were back in camp, and I stumbled into the apprentices' den and collapsed.

--------X--------

When I awoke again, I was lying in the medicine den, surrounded by injured cats. The pungent scent of herbs overpowered my nose.

"Oh," Barleypaw's familiar voice sounded close to my face. "You're awake. Thank goodness. Leaftail said you might not pull through. She said your injuries were really bad. How do you feel? Can you…"

I think I slipped out of consciousness then; I couldn't quite tell. All I know is that Barleypaw's voice faded into the distance, and the insides of my eyelids got darker than ever before.

I awoke a while later. It was dark now. I couldn't keep my eyes open long enough, just to see that a vaguely familiar she-cat was standing over me.

"He's awake," she whispered. I closed my eyes slowly. "Can you hear me, Talonpaw?" the stranger asked softly. I tried to twitch my ear in response, but all I could manage was a tiny twitch of my whisker.

"He's responding," Leaftail's familiar voice mewed. "That's a good sign. Talonpaw, can you speak? Just try."

With all the strength I could muster, I forced out a soft mewl. My throat burned from the exertion.

"Good, good," Leaftail meowed. "I know you're in pain, but we can't get you to take any herbs until you can speak and swallow. Now, please just try to open your eyes again, because someone's here to see you."

Again, it took all my strength to even make my eyelids flutter. My limbs seared with pain as I stared up at a pale brown she-cat who didn't look like anyone I knew.

"Hello, Talonpaw," the she-cat purred. "Do you remember me?" When I didn't reply, the she-cat went on. "I'm Robin. Well, Robinpaw now, I suppose. You see, I almost killed you in the battle two days ago, and I just wanted to let you know that I am sorry. Also, your leader Graystar has accepted me into the Clan. So, yeah. I guess that's all I have to say. You can go back to sleep now."

I let my eyelids drop, and a sense of relief flooded through me. I heard pained screeches then, and it took me a while to realize that I was the one making the agonized sounds.

"Talonpaw!" Barleypaw cried, shaking me as hard as he could. I fought against the screams of pain that I was now holding back.

"He's in pain," Robinpaw mewed sympathetically. "Someone should just force him to take the poppy seeds."

"But he won't even open his mouth," Leaftail pointed out.

"Maybe I could get him to," Robinpaw meowed. "I've had training with this."

"With medicine?" Barleypaw asked.

"No," Robinpaw replied. "I've had training with handling stubborn kits."

Leaftail chuckled quietly. I felt Robinpaw's cool, sweet-smelling breath by my ear.

"Oh, Talonpaw," she whispered gently. "Why won't you cooperate with us? If you would just take these little tiny poppy seeds, I will go out and catch you the biggest mouse in the forest."

I growled faintly, trying to express my disgust with her technique. I would take the poppy seeds when I _felt_ like it, thank you very much.

"Well," Barleypaw sighed. I imagined him standing there; tail drooped, eyes swimming with sorrow. "At least he's responding."

"But he'll die if we can't get anything inside of him!" Leaftail meowed. "We're already treating his outer wounds, but he needs to eat herbs, and get some meat back on his bones. He's already getting thinner as we speak!"

"He won't drink, either," Barleypaw mewed in dismay. "He may…"

Again, I lost consciousness.

I couldn't tell how long it had been since I had awoken. I might have woken before, but I had no memory of it.

When I did, I felt stronger than I had before, but I couldn't figure out why. When I looked up, Robinpaw was standing over me triumphantly.

"We got you to swallow the herbs while you slept," she meowed smugly. "It was quite a bit of work, though; you're quite stubborn when you're unconscious, too. We also got you eat a bit."

"Drat," I muttered. Shock flooded me. I could speak? I could _speak_! I felt like jumping with glee. The strain on my throat was minimal now, indicating that the herbs were doing their job.

"Excellent!" Leaftail meowed, padding to Robinpaw's side. She turned to the she-cat and mewed, "You should probably get back to training. Your mentor will get very upset if you're late again."

"Right," Robinpaw mewed, dipping her head. "Good-bye, Talonpaw!" The pale brown she-cat trotted over to my side, licked me on the ear, and darted out of the medicine den.

"Now, Talonpaw," Leaftail meowed. "You were severely injured during the battle with BaneClan, and you probably won't be able to resume training for at least another moon. So we handed Robinpaw over to Rainwhisker for training."

"What?" I cried. "Th…That's not…" My voice trailed off. Clearly, I was stronger, but not strong enough to form complete sentences.

"I know, I know," Leaftail meowed, nodding sympathetically. "But with you so weak, and the Clan in need of healthy cats, we had to train Robinpaw somehow."

I couldn't believe it. I got a few scratches, and they decide to hold me back from training and give my mentor a new apprentice? It was like I was dead, or they expected me to be very soon.

I growled furiously, satisfied that I could now growl loudly enough to scare another cat. Leaftail blinked sadly, and I closed my eyes, hoping to sleep off the anger.


	9. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Nightpaw

It had been a moon since the battle with BaneClan. Training had progressed steadily, with or without Talonpaw.

Soon, he returned to the training hollow, limping slightly on his front right paw, but other than that and the long scars that ran up and down his torso and neck, he was the same old Talonpaw. When he returned to battle, he had to become accustomed to training alongside Robinpaw in just about everything.

When he had found out that he would be held back from his warrior ceremony for an additional moon due to his injuries, he threw a fit. He threw himself into his fighting and hunting, sometimes staying out long after dark to practice.

Now, he and Robinpaw were in the training hollow with me. We were all nine moons older now, and one step closer to our warrior ceremonies. Rainwhisker had decided that we should practice fighting against each other. The news made me ecstatic, considering I hadn't been included in the BaneClan battle.

First, Robinpaw and Talonpaw fought each other, and Talonpaw came out victorious, then Robinpaw battled me. I knew I had an advantage over her, considering she had only begun her training a moon ago, but I went easy on her. Not because I pitied her, though, but because she was beautiful. No cat could deny that. She was petite, with short pale brown fur and prismatic amber eyes with just the tiniest hint of blue behind them.

She didn't seem to like that I was going easy on her. Talonpaw wasn't so happy when she beat me, either. Next, it was his turn to fight me. This time, I used his limp as an advantage, staying mostly to his right so that he couldn't attack me as well.

I beat him easily, and once again, he threw a fit, leaping at me as soon as I turned my back.

"Hey!" I meowed, rearing up on my hind legs and knocking Talonpaw to the ground. Then, I turned and brought all my weight down on him. Talonpaw wheezed in pain and went limp.

"Nightpaw!" Rainwhisker cried in shock, bounding over to where Talonpaw lay.

"Your brother is still very weak! You _never_ attack a Clanmate out of cold blood!"

"B-But," I stammered. "He attacked me first! You saw it, right Robinpaw?" I turned to the she-cat, a desperate plea in my eyes.

But the she-cat would not support me. "I can't believe you'd hurt Talonpaw for no reason, Nightpaw. Shame on you!"

"I think you should go see Graystar," Rainwhisker suggested. "Come on, let's get back to camp. Robinpaw, try to get Talonpaw to wake up, then guide him back to the medicine den."

"Right," Robinpaw mewed, nodding. Rainwhisker placed his tail on my shoulder then and led me toward camp.

Graystar was sitting by the fresh-kill pile, sharing prey with Brightheart, appearing relatively calm.

"Graystar," Rainwhisker meowed, tapping the leader on the shoulder with his tail.

"Yes?" Graystrar asked, looking up at Rainwhisker.

"I need to speak with you about Nightpaw," Rainwhisker replied.

"Then come with me," Graystar meowed, flicking his tail as he rose. "My apologies, Brightheart," he meowed to the she-cat, who was still sitting down eating. "But I have business to attend to."

"That's alright, Graystar," Brightheart replied, dipping her head as the leader padded toward his den. I trailed nervously, Rainwhisker at my flank.

"Now," Graystar meowed, sitting down at the corner of the otherwise empty den. "What seems to be the problem with Nightpaw?"  
"He attacked his injured brother out of cold blood and knocked him unconscious."

"That's not true!" I wailed. "Talonpaw attacked first! He was mad that he lost!"

"Nightpaw, silence," Graystar meowed calmly, holding his tail up. "Now, Rainwhisker, what exactly did you see?"

"Talonpaw lost to Nightpaw," Rainwhisker meowed. "And Nightpaw began attacking him again."

"What?" I cried. "That is so not true! Graystar, come on! You know I wouldn't do that!"

"Nightpaw," Graystar meowed, turning to face me. "Rainwhisker saw everything. I would never distrust him. I'm afraid I'll have to suspend you from training."

"What?" I cried. "That's not fair!"  
"You will be helping out with the queens, elders, and medicine cat until you have proved yourself worthy of leaving camp once again. You are dismissed."

I rose to my paws angrily. Graystar was being too unfair! _He didn't even let me speak!_ I thought to myself. _Oh, well,_ I decided. _Maybe if I'm good enough, he'll let me get back to training before the next half-moon._

---X---

Time passed, and soon, it was time for the Gathering again. Graystar and Dustpelt, who had been chosen as deputy after Graystar had returned from Highstones, had just called a meeting to select who would be going to the Gathering.

I was disappointed when I wasn't selected, but I supposed it was all a part of my punishment. Talonpaw, too, had been ordered to stay in camp under the watch of Barleypaw and Leaftail, which made me feel a bit better. _At least _he_ doesn't get to go, either,_ I thought unrepentantly.

I waved my tail in farewell as the patrol padded out of the camp, then settled down in front of the fresh-kill pile, where Freekit was ripping apart a tiny mouse.

"Hey, Nightpaw!" Freekit greeted me, waving her tail excitedly. "Can you believe it? Only a few days left until I become an apprentice!"

"That's great!" I meowed enthusiastically, licking my younger sister's ear in congratulations.

"I hope Shrewtail is my mentor!" Freekit went on. "He's so nice to me! Sometimes he brings me food and teaches me how to hunt and fight."

"That's great, too," I meowed, twitching my whiskers as I took a vole from the pile. "Being an apprentice _is_ great. Very rewarding." I took a chunk out of the vole's side.

Freekit and I talked and shared tongues until it became dark, and Kite called her back into the den to sleep.

Now, the camp was almost completely empty. Kite and Mousefur would not be out of the den, since Mousefur was dangerously close to kitting, and Talonpaw, Leaftail and Barleypaw would be in the medicine den all night. In the apprentices' den, Robinpaw, who would not be permitted to any Gatherings until BaneClan had been driven out, lay in her nest. Around her were Snowpaw and Hollypaw.

In the warriors' den was Rainwhisker, who had opted to stay in camp, Squirreltail, and Brightheart.

Outside, keeping guard, would be Shrewtail and Whiteheart. I was bored out of my mind, and decided that I would do some exploring. I turned and padded into the apprentices' den, searching for an accomplice.

"Who wants to go do something exciting?" I asked.

"Like what?" Hollypaw asked, raising her head.

"I'm gonna go to BaneClan's camp and try to rescue Gingerpaw," I replied.

"What?" Snowpaw cried. "That's against the warrior code!"

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, I, uh," Snowpaw stammered.

"Exactly," I replied. "They want to keep Gingerpaw for ransom, right? Well, we'll just go in there and get her back."

"That's virtually impossible," Robinpaw pointed out. "You see, there are twelve guards stationed at every entry and exit that's in the camp."

"What if we create another entrance?" I suggested. "They won't know it's there, and then we'll be able to sneak in, get Gingerpaw, and sneak out before anyone notices."

Robinpaw shook her head, dismissing the idea. "That's ridiculous!" she cried. "There are patrols going all around the territory. If you try to dig a tunnel, you _will_ get caught."

"It's worth a shot, though, right?" I meowed. "Come on! Someone has to believe in me!"  
"I'll help," Snowpaw mewed suddenly, her green eyes bright with excitement. "I'll do anything to get Gingerpaw back. It's been so long since I've seen her! Almost two whole moons! And I'll bet she's just dying of fright right now. We've _got_ to get her back."

"I guess I'll go, too," Robinpaw muttered, shrugging. "I mean, I know all the entrances, and the routes the patrols take. You'd be dead without me."

"She's right," I agreed, nodding. "Come on, let's go."

Together, the three of us rose to our paws and padded out of the den.

"Hollypaw!" Snowpaw mewed suddenly, turning back to face the she-cat. "Can you cover for us if we don't come back before the Gathering patrol?"

"Sure," Hollypaw replied, nodding. "What are friends for?"

"Thanks," Robinpaw meowed, twitching her tail happily. Then, the three of us turned and padded away.

Once we exited the camp, Shrewtail and Whiteheart stopped us.

"Where are you three going?" Whiteheart demanded. "It's not safe to be out after dark."

"We're just doing a bit of hunting," I lied smoothly. "We'll be back before moonhigh. Don't worry about it."

"Well, alright," Shrewtail meowed, dipping his head. "Travel safely, you three."

"Thank you, Shrewtail," Robinpaw mewed, dipping her head. Then, the three of us padded into the night.

We traveled in silence for a while, until Robinpaw indicated the first patrol route, and the small gap in it.

"If we can squeeze through the scent barrier without making our scent stick to anything, they won't pick us up."

"Over here," Snowpaw hissed, gesturing to a pile of peat. "We can roll in this peat, and it will erase our scent."

"Good idea, Snowpaw," I meowed, padding to her side and flinging myself into the peat. The two she-cats followed. We rolled around until the only thing we could smell was the strong scent of the peaty earth on our pelts. Then, we proceeded through the small gap where BaneClan did not mark their territory and hurried on.

"Do you smell something?" Snowpaw asked after a moment. Her muzzle was in the air, and she sniffed heavily.

"That's BaneClan's scent," Robinpaw replied. "They're close."

As those words escaped her lips, the voices of cats floated toward us. They were coming from the south.

"What do you mean?" once voice meowed. "I didn't hear anything."

"I _know_ I heard something!" a younger feminine voice insisted. "Right near the border, I swear!"

"I don't smell anything out of the ordinary," a third voice put in. "You must just be tired."

"I just woke up!" the younger cat protested. "I've rested very well."

"Where do we hide?" I asked, my eyes desperately scanning the area. There was no undergrowth in sight."

"Follow me," Robinpaw hissed, turning toward the north and bounding away. Snowpaw followed, and I brought up the rear, darting along behind them as silently as possible.

Robinpaw led us to a denser part of the forest, full of leafy bushes. "We can hide in here," she hissed. "Just until the patrol goes by."

"How do you know they're going to follow us?" Snowpaw demanded.

"They've picked up the sound of our paw steps," Robinpaw replied. "Listen."

Snowpaw and I pricked our ears and, sure enough, we could hear the faint, hurried patter of three sets of paws on the ground, heading in our direction.

"But I'll stick out like a sore paw!" Snowpaw mewed. "Robinpaw, you blend in with the earth, and Nightpaw is too dark to be seen. The only way I would be able to camouflage would be if it were snowing."

I thought hard for a quick moment, trying to figure out how to hide Snowpaw.

But Robinpaw beat me to it. "That's it!" she cried. "Snowpaw, Nightpaw, help me peel off some of these loose branches. We don't have a lot of time!"

The three of us bounded to the indicated bush and ripped off all the leafy branches we could.

"Now get under that bush over there," Robinpaw demanded, her voice slightly muffled by the branches in her mouth. "We don't have much time left."

Snowpaw and I obeyed. Together, we dragged our branches under the bush with us.

"Cover her up," Robinpaw ordered, wiggling in beside us. Together, Robinpaw and I covered up the tiny white she-cat with the leafy green branches until she was barely visible. Then, the three of us crouched in silence.

For a long time, the patrol did not appear. My limbs were sore, and screamed in protest as I shifted slightly. Then, the three cats burst into view. Once was a tortoiseshell she-cat, a muscular black-furred tom, and a petite silver she-cat, probably no older than myself.

"Where'd they go?" the large black tom hissed. "I know they came this way!"

"I can't pick up their scents," the tortoiseshell meowed. "I'm sure they're gone now."

The black tom growled viciously. "I swear, if they come back, I'll rip their pelts off before they can blink!"

"Peace, Snake," the tortoiseshell she-cat mewed, placing her tail on the large tom's shoulder. "We have come to this forest to drive out the evil and replace it with good. We should not give in to the evil of these cats."

"Right," Snake muttered, shrugging off the she-cat's tail. "And how many cats did we kill when ThunderClan came to take back their apprentice?"

"It was all for the greater good," the tiny silver she-cat mewed. "Like Blood said, BaneClan is here to restore peace to the forest for all generations."

"There can be no peace without conflict," Snake pointed out.

"Let us move on," the tortoiseshell suggested. Snake nodded, and the three BaneClan cats padded off into the darkness.

The three of us waited in silence for a few more moments, not daring to move an inch. Finally, Snowpaw wormed her way out of the bush and stretched her limbs stiffly. Robinpaw and I followed.

"Come on," Robinpaw whispered. "Digging a new entrance will take a lot of time, and we need to be back by moonhigh."

"Right," I meowed, nodding.

"And we have to bring back some prey, too," Snowpaw pointed out. "If Shrewtail and Whiteheart think we're going on a late-night hunt, then we have to provide evidence."

"She's right," Robinpaw meowed. "But we'll deal with that problem later. Now, come on. We have to get moving before the next patrol comes."

"How do the patrols work?" Snowpaw asked after a moment of silence.

Robinpaw's steady, silent steps did not falter as she answered the question. "The patrols come and go systematically. The first patrol does their route once, returns to the camp to get the second patrol, and then surveys the borders once again. The second patrol does the same. After their first round, they alert the next patrol and do another examination.

"Without the system, we would be weak; easy to defeat. It would make it far too easy for invaders to come in and destroy us. The same thing applies for the sentries. Twelve sentries are stationed at each opening in the territory that leads to our camp. Whenever a cat returns, the first sentry will ask the cat one question regarding the Clan. If that cat answers the question correctly, the second sentry will ask a question, and so forth.

"This system does not apply to cats wishing to leave the camp. The cat simply reports what they will be doing and by what time they will return. If the cat does not return before that time period, a patrol is sent to all corners of the territory to search for them.

"A search will generally last for three days. If by the fourth day the cat is not found, they are considered dead."

"So your Clan thinks you're dead?" I asked.

"Yes," Robinpaw replied. "And that is why I must stay out of their sight. If they catch me, I will be sentenced to death for treason and attempting to escape the Clan."

"Sssh!" Snowpaw hissed suddenly. "I hear something!"

We sat in silence for a moment, but no sound was made.

"It was nothing," Robinpaw mewed. "I'm sure we're fine."

We continued to pad toward the camp in silence, avoiding patrols as best as we could. We would often cover Snowpaw with branches, but if there was not enough time, we would end up sitting on her in order to cover up her white pelt.

Soon, we came within view of the tall tree where BaneClan's camp was stationed.

"Stay low," Robinpaw hissed. "There are many entrances near here, and if a sentry sees or hears us, our time is up."

"Where can we dig an entrance, then?" I asked.

"Right over there," Snowpaw replied, gesturing with her long, slender tail toward a place at the base of the tree where roots poked up in every direction. "See, Blood and Snake, who lead the Clan together, thought that setting up a tunnel in a place with so many roots would be inconvenient, and so they left this place and a large area around it untouched. The ground is generally soft and easy to dig, so there shouldn't be too much trouble."

"Great," I meowed. "Let's get started."

Since there were no patrols or sentries around, we could get started immediately. Robinpaw had warned us, though, that there would be sentries circling the tree periodically and that we had to cover up the hole every time they came by.

We dug as quickly as possible, not worrying about the mess that we were making. By the time the first sentry came by, we had dug halfway under the tree. As soon as we heard the sentry, we covered the hole with bare branches we had stacked in a pile to make it seem as though the ground had not been disturbed. Then, we kicked all the loose dirt behind a bush and hid beside it. Snowpaw crouched behind the pile of dirt to disguise herself, and Robinpaw and I crouched beside each other underneath the bush.

When the sentry finally left, Robinpaw shifted to get up, and pressed her flank into mine. I felt a burst of electricity jump through my veins, and my heart beat a little too quickly. The emotion confused me. The shock didn't hurt, but I didn't want to experience it again.

Robinpaw turned to face me then, and my heart felt as though it would melt. Her beautiful amber eyes glistened in the light of the full moon, and I wanted nothing more than to wrap myself around her and lay there watching the stars all night.

I had never wanted anything so much in my entire life, but I quickly shook off all these thoughts and followed her out of the bush.

The three of us dug more quickly this time, struggling to clear the last of the roots out of the way. Finally, we had dug deep enough that we could put the sticks above us and stay inside the hole. Once we had done so, we tried to navigate in the dark, musty tunnel. All the light that the moon had provided us was soon gone.

We dug much more quickly than I had expected, and soon we could hear the low murmur of voices from below.

"We must be in the ceiling," Robinpaw hissed. "Be sure to distribute your weight evenly, like you do in a hunter's crouch. The dirt is thin, and we can't risk making any fall and letting them know what we're doing."

We continued digging in silence, pushing all the upturned dirt behind us in small piles.

Soon, the chatter became too faint to make out, and there was only one voice that could be heard. It rang out sorrowfully, just loudly enough for us to hear. It was a she-cat.

"I can't believe that I killed Firestar, Snake," the voice mewed. "My own brother! This is too much to handle! He loves his Clan more than anything."

"It was all for the greater good, Blood," Snake reassured the Clan leader. "Your brother had to die in order for us to gain control of the land."

"Blood is Firestar's sister?" I hissed in disbelief. "We have to tell the Clan, Snowpaw! Come on!"

The three of us turned stiffly in what little space we had and darted toward the exit, narrowly avoiding the walls that were so close to us.

Soon, we were out of the tunnel. We scattered the sticks all over the place as we escaped, and didn't bother to put them back. We raced through the territory, being sure to listen for patrols, and burst back into ThunderClan not long after.

We slowed our pace as we approached the camp entrance, trying as best as we could to make our fur lie flat.

"Hello," Shrewtail greeted us as we approached. "Did you manage to catch anything?"

"No," Robinpaw lied smoothly. "I suppose prey is more dormant at night."

"Well," Brightheart meowed. "At least you tried. You should probably get some rest now. Graystar and the rest of the Gathering patrol will return soon."

"Thank you for letting us know," I meowed, dipping my head. Together, the three of us padded into the camp, heading straight for the apprentices' den. Hollypaw was still awake, though she looked extremely drowsy.

"What did you find?" she yawned.

"We found out that the leader of BaneClan is…" I started, only to have Robinpaw slap her tail over my mouth. The electric shock raced through me once again, and I shuddered, pulling away from the she-cat.

"We mustn't tell anyone of what we heard or saw," Robinpaw meowed simply. "Now, we should all get some sleep."

"Right," Snowpaw mewed, nodding. "Goodnight, Hollypaw."

I padded to the back of the den as the she-cats said their goodnights, curling up in my nest in the corner.

Sleep did not come easily to me. I was awake even after the rest of the Clan came back from the Gathering.

Birchpaw called out for Barleypaw, who came bounding over, I strained my ears curiously, trying to listen.

"Hey, Barleypaw," Birchpaw whispered. "Some cat from ShadowClan had a message for you."

"Did you get their name?" Barleypaw asked.

"No," Birchpaw replied, shaking his head. "But they said they wanted you to meet them on the border tomorrow at sunhigh."

"Great," Barleypaw mewed. "Thanks, Birchpaw!" Then, he was gone, and I rested my head on my paws.

Birchpaw joined me at the back of the den that night, and together we discussed what we had done that night. He told me about the Gathering, and I lied to him about a lazy night in the camp playing with Freekit, and the unsuccessful hunt I had gone on with Robinpaw and Snowpaw not long before he had returned.

Eventually, Birchpaw fell asleep, but I stayed up, turning over the events of the night in my head over and over again until I had completely memorized them.

Many questions flitted through my head, followed by very few answers, but the one that bothered me the most was: Who was Firestar's sister? Kite had told me her father was an only child. But that didn't explain his relation to Cloudtail. No, there had to be a sister. But she had never lived in ThunderClan, that was for sure.

Long after, I, too fell into a restless sleep, my only dream a replayed memory of the night I had spent in the tunnel.


	10. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Barleypaw

The next day, I awoke early, eager to get as much work done as I could, in hopes that Leaftail would let me take a quick walk by myself at around sunhigh.

I had my suspicions about who had asked me to meet them at the ShadowClan border, and I hoped with all my heart that it was Heartpaw, but I had no way to be sure. Our last endeavor had been a bit dull. I had simply stayed at Fourtrees after everyone else had left, and we had spoken about our Clans for a while. I had told her how she reminded me of the former medicine cat, Cinderpelt, and she had purred.

Then, we went hunting and shared a mouse and fell asleep. I had left as soon as I had woken up; being sure not to wake the angelic young she-cat as I raced back toward the ThunderClan camp, hoping no one had noticed my absence. Fortunately, no one asked me where I had been.

Now, a young ShadowClan she-cat was asking me to join her by the Thunderpath which marked the border. I was positive that it was Heartpaw, but there was only one way to be sure.

Even before Leaftail had awoken, I began sorting all the herbs into piles and organizing them, making sure each pile was visible, disposing of all the rotten or bruised herbs. When the medicine cat awoke, she seemed startled at my sudden diligence and interest in my training.

"Wow, Barleypaw," she commented when she noticed my herb piles. "You seem very efficient today."

I shrugged, turning to face her. "I guess it's just the day."

"What do you mean?" Leaftail asked.

"Well," I replied. "It's only two days before Freekit's apprentice ceremony, and Mousefur is very close to bearing kits. The thought of our Clan's success brings me such joy."

"That's great," Leaftail meowed, purring contentedly. "I'm glad to see you're putting your all into your training."

"I was thinking that I could go collect some herbs now," I meowed. "I mean, you could come with me if you like."

"I think that would be wonderful," Leaftail replied. "You can show me just how much you've really learned in the last two moons."

It was close to sunhigh when we finally returned. I asked to go out on a walk, but Leaftail urged me to stay just a while longer and help her sort herbs. I couldn't turn flaky now, so I stayed and helped, sorting the herbs as quickly as possible.

Sunhigh was close to passing when Leaftail finally dismissed me. I sprinted out of camp, heading straight for the ShadowClan border.

When I got there, Heartpaw was waiting on my side of the Thunderpath, beside a small clump of bushes, her eyes on the sky, obviously watching the sun.

I cleared my throat loudly, and she looked over at me, the sun catching her beautiful blue eyes and making them sparkle. My heart raced, and my thoughts became tangled and unintelligible.

"Barleypaw!" Heartpaw mewed, her eyes wide with joy. "Come over here. I'm not on your border, and I don't want to cross and stir up tension."

"Good idea," I meowed, padding over to join her. We stood across from each other awkwardly, and I was sure neither of us was sure what to do then.

"I-I missed you," Heartpaw stammered finally.

"I missed you, too," I replied bashfully. "S-So, how's your Clan?"

"Same as usual," Heartpaw replied, shrugging indifferently. "My mentor is really nice and fun. I really can't wait to become a warrior."

"That makes two of us," I replied, and the she-cat chuckled.

"Barleypaw," Heartpaw meowed, all laughter in her eyes replaced by seriousness. "I know it hasn't been that long, but I really think I…"

"Barleypaw!" the call startled me. I jumped whipping around to face the sunhigh patrol. In this patrol were Thornclaw, Brightheart, and Dustpelt. I froze as the deputy and two warriors stalked toward me and Heartpaw.

"What _are_ you doing?" Dustpelt demanded. "We do _not_ associate with the likes of ShadowClan."

"She's not a bad cat!" I protested, flicking my tail angrily. "She's really nice and sweet!"

"Regardless of her personality," Dustpelt meowed. "It is strictly against the warrior code to meet secretly with cats from another Clan. Cross-Clan romances are against the rules as well."

"We're not in love!" I protested.

"What?" Heartpaw demanded. "What do you mean? I thought we had something special!"

I turned to face her, trying to convey my words with my eyes. _I'm just lying to them, Heartpaw,_ I thought, desperately hoping she understood me. _It's all a game. They can't find out about how we feel about each other._

"Still," Dustpelt meowed firmly. "This is all against the warrior code. Barleypaw, you are coming back to camp with us. And you," he meowed, turning his harsh glare on Heartpaw, who recoiled in fright. "Don't think your leader will not be notified about your rule-breaking. You had better get back to your camp this instant."

Heartpaw nodded, glared at me, and was gone.

My heart sank. Had I really lost her forever? Of course, there was no way she could have read my thoughts, so there was no way she could know that I had been lying to my Clanmates.

The three warriors circled me and led me back to camp, prattling on and on about how dangerous it was to break the warrior code the whole way there.

When Graystar found out about my infidelity toward my Clan, he was angry, but he did not overreact, like the patrol had. He thanked the patrol for notifying him and dismissed them curtly, asking me to stay with him.

"Barleypaw," he meowed sternly once the warriors had gone. "I'm sure you've already been told how risky that maneuver of yours was, so I'm not going to remind you again. I'm sure you will remember. But I'd like to tell you that I know how you feel. When I was a young warrior, I was in love with a RiverClan she-cat named Silverstream. She was beautiful and lovely inside and out. Soon, she bore two kits for me and died in labor. Both Clans are very upset about this, even today. I don't want you to lose someone important to you, too."

I nodded, turning over the leader's words in my head.

"I think you should try to find romance within your Clan," Graystar went on. "You're still very young, and I don't want you to get hurt. It would be much easier for all of us if you fell in love with a she-cat from your own Clan."

"But I'm a medicine cat apprentice," I pointed out. "Isn't that against the warrior code?"

"It's against the code for medicine cats to _mate_, not to be in love," Graystar replied. "Now, for your sake, I won't tell Leaftail about this little episode. But try to remember what I said, okay Barleypaw?"

"Okay," I agreed, nodding. Graystar dismissed me and I bounded out into the camp once again, heading straight for the fresh-kill pile. I snatched a squirrel from the pile and raced back into the medicine den, where Leaftail was busily sorting herbs.

"I brought you some fresh-kill," I meowed, setting the squirrel down at the medicine cat's paws. Leaftail looked down at me kindly.

"Thank you very much, Barleypaw," she meowed, dipping her head. She sat down and ate it slowly. "Why don't you join me?" she suggested after a moment. "I'm sure you're just starving."

"Sure," I meowed gratefully, sitting down beside the medicine cat and ate with her, being careful not to take too much of her meal.

After that, the two of us finished sorting the herbs in silence, occasionally discussing things like Mousefur's kits and the success of the warrior apprentices so far.

By the time night fell, the both of us were exhausted, and we both decided to turn in at around the same time. Leaftail fell asleep quickly, whereas I stayed awake into the early dawn. By the time I fell asleep, the sun had just risen, and the Clan was beginning to stir. I ignored them all, dreaming of the pained look on Heartpaw's face as she had walked away from me for what would probably be the last time.


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Gingerpaw

I had long since lost track of time. The day became the night, and days ceased to matter to me. I was locked up in the nursery for StarClan knows how long. Sky, Lake, Cricket, Mouse, and all the rest of the kits grew rapidly, becoming stronger each day. I knew it hadn't been five moons yet, since the twelve kits and their mothers had not yet abandoned the nursery to make room for three new queens.

I followed no routine. I ate when I was hungry and slept when I was tired. Blood and Snake seemed to pay no attention to me, especially after the successful battle with ThunderClan which had led to the death of Firestar. My heart ached for him, and for the rest of my family, and I longed to return home.

After a while, I became aware of my stomach becoming larger. I realized a while after that this was due to laziness, over-eating, and lack of exercise. I didn't bother asking to be let out. The dark, musty nursery was my home now, its mossy walls and floors an everlasting sign of comfort and protection.

Often I spent my nights dreaming of returning home, and how my clanmates would welcome me. I wondered if they would hold back my warrior ceremony due to my absence. Most of the time, it didn't worry me, but other times, I shuddered from imagining what they would do to me when I returned.

_Relax,_ I would tell myself. _There's nothing to worry about. It's BaneClan's fault you haven't been training, not yours!_

I also thought that the queens in the nursery were finally beginning to accept me.

That's why I was surprised when, one night, Dove and Orchid awakened me.

"What?" I muttered drowsily, rolling onto my back to look up at the queens. "You know I'm supposed to be sleeping right now."

"We're getting you out of here," Orchid hissed. "Now come on. If we don't hurry, the sentries won't let us out."

I hopped to my paws and groomed myself quickly, following the queens' examples. Then, we approached the exit tunnel. The queens told me to act natural, so I stared forward uninterestedly as the queens informed the twelve sentries that they would be performing the Ceremony.

One of the sentries widened their eyes in shock when the word was mentioned, but they let us pass through. Dove and Orchid led me up the tunnel, their eyes blank with indifference. I tried to do the same.

Once we were outside, Dove and Orchid hurriedly explained to me that the Ceremony was when a cat was killed as punishment for being lazy or incompetent. That way, when they returned without me, no questions would be asked.

"But what about when they want to see my body?" I asked.

"We'll simply say we dumped your body in the river," Orchid replied, shrugging. "They may go looking for it, but they most likely will believe us. Being a queen makes you important to the rest of the Clan. Without us, the Clan would not thrive the way it does now."

"Now, which way to your camp?" Dove asked. "We need to get there and back as soon as possible."

"This way," I hissed, gesturing for them to follow me. It had been so long since I had been out of BaneClan's camp, but I was confident that I would be able to find my way back to ThunderClan before long.

We plodded through the forest for a while, keeping close to the undergrowth and hardly making a sound. Finally, we entered the ThunderClan border.

I was hoping to find a patrol, but it was too late, and so I assumed there would be none. We continued silently until we came to the ravine.

"Wow," Dove breathed as we gazed down into the camp. "It's…it's beautiful. How could you stand to be away from such a place for so long?"

"I didn't have much of a choice," I reminded the queen.

"Come on," Orchid hissed, starting down toward the entrance. "Let's get you and get lost as fast as we can."

"Be quiet," I warned the queens as I padded after them. "There'll be guards by the entrance."

Just as the words escaped my lips, a warning yowl split the air. Murmurs of shock and fear floated out of the gorse tunnel from within the camp.

"It's okay," I called. "It's just me, Gingerpaw! I brought some friends, though."

"Don't move any further," a familiar voice ordered. Dustpelt padded toward me, his eyes narrowed warily. He sniffed me thoroughly several times, then moved on to Dove and Orchid. "Why are you here?"

"I escaped," I replied. "And Dove and Orchid just came to drop me off."

"Well then," Dustpelt meowed after a moment, flicking his tail decidedly. "Follow me, please. I'm sure Graystar would like to see you."

I followed obediently, Dove and Orchid trailing. Ashfur and Whiteheart, who had been guarding the entrance, brought up the rear.

Curious stares bore into my back as the six of us headed toward Graystar's den. He sat in the entrance, as though he had been expecting our arrival.

"Gingerpaw," he meowed in surprise. "We thought you were gone forever. Who are these cats you have brought with you?"

I turned my head in both directions, eyeing Dove and Orchid. I noticed that Dove was blushing a bit under her fur.

"This is Dove and Orchid," I replied. "They live in BaneClan, and helped me escape."

"Well," Graystar meowed, dipping his head to the queens. "It's great to meet you. Thank you for bringing us back one of our apprentices."

"It was our pleasure," Dove replied quickly, her voice slightly shaky.

"We should probably be going now, if we are no longer needed," Orchid meowed.

"I will escort you to the edge of our territory," Graystar offered. "Gingerpaw, why don't you return to your den? I'm sure your siblings are very eager to see you again."

I nodded and darted off toward the apprentices' den, eager to see my brothers and sister.

They were waiting for me in the entrance to the den.

"Gingerpaw!" Snowpaw mewed, darting toward me and licking my nose happily. "Where have you been? We thought you were dead!"

"They kept me locked up in a nursery with twelve kits for StarClan knows how long," I replied, shrugging. "I hardly ever left except for when I had to make dirt."

"Eew," Larchpaw mewed, shuddering. "How did you manage living with so many cats?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "But I managed. And Dove and Orchid were kind enough to rescue me from that monotonous life and bring me back here. I would have eventually been killed anyway."

"Well, we saved you a nest," Talonpaw meowed. "And look who came to join us!"

Freekit, now Freepaw, padded forward then, and her eyes lit up joyously. "Gingerpaw!" she cried, bounding forward and nuzzling my leg affectionately. "I missed you _so_ much! Did BaneClan take you away? Were they nice to you?"

"They certainly fed her," Birchpaw muttered, eyeing my disdainfully.

"So I put on a bit of weight," I snapped. "Big deal. Can we just get some sleep? I'm exhausted!"

"Good idea," Snowpaw meowed.

"Come on, Gingerpaw!" Freepaw begged. "Come sleep next to me! Your nest is already there anyway. Did you hear Mousefur had kits? She named them Ravenkit and Fawnkit."

"I'll have to meet them tomorrow, won't I?" I meowed, padding toward the back of the den with my youngest sister. Together, we settled into our nests and began discussing what we had been doing since I had been taken by BaneClan as ransom. Eventually, Freepaw went off on a tangent about how excited she was to be mentored by Shrewtail, and how she knew it was going to be so much fun training side by side with me and the rest of her older siblings. This eventually put me to sleep, but I don't think she noticed.

-----X-----

The next morning, I awoke early and went with Freepaw to meet Ravenkit and Fawnkit, as I had promised.

I had suspected that Mousefur and her kits would be the only ones in there, but I was shocked to find Dove lying in a nest near the back, chattering in a low voice with Mousefur.

"Dove?" I squeaked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to BaneClan with Orchid."

"So did I," Dove replied. "But Graystar asked me to stay. He stopped me right before I crossed the border and told me that he loved me and thought I was beautiful, and then he asked me to join ThunderClan. He's giving me my full name at sunset."

"Oh," I murmured, puzzled by the whole situation. How could he be in love with her? They barely knew each other! Sure, Dove was beautiful and kind, but Graystar had always seemed to be a level-headed tom, even for his young age. "Well, I came to meet Ravenkit and Fawnkit. Freepaw was begging me all night long."

"Don't you hurt them," Mousefur growled, bud obligingly moved her tail to the side so that I could see the tiny kits. The two she-kits squirmed, seeking the comfort of their mother's warm, slender tail once again. I watched in awe as they mewled and battered the air with their paws. How could such sweet, innocent kits come from the headstrong, spirited Mousefur?

"They're lovely, Mousefur," I whispered.

"I know," the queen sighed. Then, she became more serious. "Don't you two have some training to get to? There's no use for lazy cats in ThunderClan."

"Wait," I mewed. "Who's going to train me now that you're in the nursery?"

"You'll go back to Cloudtail, of course," Mousefur replied. "Wasn't he your substitute mentor before you were kidnapped?"

"Right," I mewed, nodding. "I suppose I forgot."

"Forgetfulness can lead to life-threatening mistakes," Mousefur meowed sternly. "Now get out of here. My kits and I need to rest."

I nodded, and Freepaw and I padded out of the den together.

"I'm sure glad she's not _my_ mentor!" Freepaw whispered to me as we headed toward the fresh-kill pile to eat. "How do you stand her being so strict?"

"I haven't been around her that much," I pointed out. "So it hasn't gotten too hard yet."

"You're so lucky you're nine moons old," Freepaw gushed. "In three moons, you'll all become warriors! And I'll be the only apprentice."

"Don't worry," I reassured my youngest sibling. "I'm sure more apprentices will come along soon."

"I sure hope so," Freepaw muttered.

Leaftail and Barleypaw were just leaving the camp as we exited the nursery, and we meowed greetings to them as they passed. At the fresh-kill pile was Brackenfur and Hollypaw, who were discussing something cheerily; I assumed it was training. Freepaw and I joined them, taking a piece of fresh-kill each and munching on them silently.

Hollypaw's discussion with her mentor ceased then, and she rose to her paws and stalked away. I wondered idly what had caused her to just get up and walk away. Was it me and Freepaw? Had we intruded on an important discussion? Brackenfur rose to his paws as well and followed the young she-cat.

Cloudtail appeared in the entrance to the warriors' den then, waving his tail in greeting toward me. I rose to my paws and padded toward him, bidding farewell to my younger sister.

"Hey, Gingerpaw!" Cloudtail meowed happily. "It's great to have you back. I was thinking you could show me what they taught you in BaneClan as far as hunting skills. Come on! Let's get started!"

"But I didn't…" I started, then decided that it wasn't important to Cloudtail and followed him out of camp.

Soon, we reached the training hollow, which was empty. A gentle breeze blew through the hollow, tugging at our fur. I spun around to face my mentor, immediately ready to begin battle training once again. Cloudtail narrowed his eyes playfully.

"Okay, Gingerpaw. Let's put those new battle moves to use! What did they show you? Maybe when we attack them again we can use some of their moves against them."

"Wait," I meowed. "We're fighting them _again_? I don't think that's such a good idea."

"That's up to Graystar, I guess," Cloudtail replied, shrugging his shoulders. "But I like the idea. Now come on! No more distractions. Just you and me, one on one."

"Okay," I meowed, nodding. I tried to remember some of the moves I had witnessed from within the BaneClan nursery during their battle with ThunderClan. Then, without warning, Cloudtail leapt at me, his fur standing on end, teeth bared in a snarl. An image of one particularly effective move I had witnessed popped into my head. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, giving me energy as I leapt up, spun around in mid-air, flying out of Cloudtail's attack range, then stopped spinning and lashed out with my hind legs, hammering the white tom in the side. We fell to the ground at the same moment, but I landed on all four paws. Cloudtail lay on his side, panting heavily.

"Wow," he meowed quietly when he had regained his breath. "That was _amazing_! Can you show me how to do that?"

"I-I don't know," I replied timidly. "I think that was more of a one-time thing, you know? Just, like, spur of the moment. See, I wasn't really thinking when you attacked me, and I just thought of that move and made it happen."

"Are you sure?" Cloudtail meowed, his tone making him sound desperate. "Just give it one more shot."

"O-Okay," I agreed nervously. "So first, you jump and spin while you're in the air so that your enemy can't reach you. Then, you stop mid-spin and lash out with your hind paws and try to kick your enemy in the flank. It should stun them for a moment, giving you time to try an ending move on them."

"That's brilliant!" Cloudtail cried in disbelief. "How on earth did BaneClan come up with such moves?"

"I'm not sure," I replied honestly. "Do you want to give it a try?"

"Sure!" Cloudtail mewed excitedly. "Let me know if I do anything wrong, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, nodding. I watched as the fluffly white tome leapt into the air and tried to mimic my move. He was less than successful, falling to the ground after the spin.

"It seems as though _I've_ become the mentor," I meowed jokingly.

"Oh, ha ha," Cloudtail muttered, rising to his paws and shaking himself. "Let's get back to training."

We continued fighting for a long time, until the sun sank to the mountains. Both Cloudtail and I were exhausted, and we decided to take a cool-down stroll. We headed toward Tallpines silently, only occasionally commenting on the long training session.

Both of us managed to catch some prey. We both ate our catches, then caught more to bring back to camp.

When we returned, Cloudtail had a squirrel and I had two finches and a mouse. Together, we laid our catches on the fresh-kill pile and bid each other farewell. Then, I returned to the apprentices' den, which was just starting to fill up. Freepaw was sitting in her nest grooming herself, and Birchpaw and Talonpaw were already snoring away beside Snowpaw, who looked disgusted by them. Larchpaw and Hollypaw were sharing tongues quietly near the back left corner of the den. I padded back to join them.

"Hey," I mewed happily.

"Hi, Gingerpaw," Larchpaw replied. "So, how was your first day back in ThunderClan?"

"It was good," I replied shrugging. Graystar's voice rang out across the camp then, summoning us all out into the clearing for yet another meeting. The seven of us heaved ourselves to our paws and padded out to join Nightpaw and Barleypaw, who were already seated close to the apprentices' den.

"Cats of ThunderClan," Graystar began. "It brings me great joy to introduce you all to my new mate, Dove of BaneClan."

As Dove padded forward, snarls of apprehension and disapproval rose from the crowd.

"BaneClan?" one cat cried.

"They killed Firestar, remember?" another put in.

"How many mates are you going to take that aren't from ThunderClan?" a third demanded. "Why don't you just settle down with someone from your own Clan already?"

"Enough!" Graystar snarled, lashing his tail furiously. His pelt stood on end, and fear filled my veins. I had never seen the young leader so upset before. "Dove is now a member of our Clan and I expect you all to treat her as such. Now, I call upon the spirits of StarClan to look down upon this young queen. She has cast aside her old ways and left her old Clan in the past, and wishes to join ThunderClan, looking to you for spiritual guidance. Therefore, I give this queen the name Dovewing."

Kite was the only one who chanted the new cat's name, and I felt sorrow toward her. Kite truly knew how it felt to be an outcast. I thought that Dovewing deserved much better than what my clanmates were giving her, and so I joined in the chanting.

"Dovewing! Dovewing! Dovewing!" I cried.

Eventually, Larchpaw and Hollypaw joined in, and a couple of warriors cheered half-heartedly, and I began to think that maybe they, too, were beginning to realize that Dovewing could be one of us.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Clan began to disperse from the crowd, returning to their appropriate dens. Larchpaw, Hollypaw, Kite, and I padded up to our new clanmate to congratulate her, along with the few other warriors that had welcomed her.

"It's great to have you with us, Dovewing," Kite mewed, licking the new queen's ear reassuringly. "Don't worry about the others. They take some getting used to. Trust me, I know. I joined the Clan when I was twelve moons old, and most cats didn't except me right away, either."

"Thank you," Dovewing mewed, dipping her head gratefully.

I padded up to her next. "I'm sorry about all the jeering," I began. "And thanks for rescuing me from BaneClan."

"Thank you for living in such a beautiful forest," Dovewing purred in reply. "If you hadn't led us back here, I would still be under the notion that BaneClan is the most beautiful place on this earth."

"It's no problem," I replied simply, then made way for the rest of the warriors.

Soon after, Larchpaw and Hollypaw joined me at the back of the apprentices' den. Freepaw was already fast asleep. "I can't believe no one wanted to welcome Dovewing!" Hollypaw mewed angrily. "I wish I could knock some sense through their thick, mouse-brained skulls."

"Me, too," Larchpaw agreed. "But I'm sure that everyone else will eventually accept her."

"Right," I agreed, nodding happily. "Now, we should all get some sleep. Isn't the Gathering tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Hollypaw confirmed, nodding. "I can't wait! I'm just so excited! Hopefully all three of us will get to go."

"We can only wait and see," I replied, shrugging. Then, the three of us settled down and promptly fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 10

**I just realized that in the end of ****I Am****, I called Freekit a tom. Just thought I'd make it clear that Freepaw is, in fact, a she-cat. =)**

**A/N: Holy snot!!! This chapter is effing **_**looooong**_**! I was aiming for ten pages, and I got pretty close, but then I ran out of stuff to say, so I stopped at the very end of the ninth page. Anyway, hope you enjoy! Also, since this chapter covered a lot of what happens over the next moon, I think this story may be a bit shorter than I had planned.**

Chapter 10: Snowpaw

The next night was the Gathering. Dustpelt had allowed me to take a break from training that day, and so I spent most of it sleeping and chattering with the other apprentices.

Finally, it came time for Graystar to announce who would be going to the Gathering.

"With me, I will bring Dustpelt, Snowpaw, Ashfur, Brackenfur, Hollypaw, Freepaw, Kite, and Rainwhisker."

"Yes!" Freepaw cheered, bounding to my side. "This is my first Gathering! I'm so excited! Have you been to one yet? You have to show me around and introduce me to all the cats you know. This is going to be _so_ much fun!"

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding. "Come on; let's get going." Together, the two of us padded toward where Graystar was gathering the unusually small patrol. Then, we left, heading up the ravine and into the forest.

I felt a bit wary of my surroundings, wondering whether BaneClan would leave their boundaries. But then again, I remembered their system as being very strict and exact. They wouldn't find the need to raid another territory for prey unless it was absolutely necessary. I still wondered why Graystar hadn't done anything about the new Clan settling in our territory.

_He's probably going to do something about it sometime soon,_ I told myself, shaking off my fear and following the patrol.

I suddenly became aware of Freepaw's rambling. I was sure she had been talking since we left the camp, but it wasn't until she bumped me and asked me if I was paying attention that I knew words had been coming out of her mouth.

"Oh, yeah," I meowed. "Sorry. I was just…distracted."

"Well, as I was saying," Freepaw went on. "I've never been too close to Fourtrees. Shrewtail couldn't take me on our first day of training, since it got too dark too fast. What's it like? Is it pretty? Is it indescribable? I'll bet there's nothing too special about it. Just four big trees in a circle, that's all."

"Hush, Freepaw," Kite meowed sternly. "Don't speak of Fourtrees like that. That is a place where StarClan allows us to gather in peace with the other Clans."

Freepaw fell silent then, and I felt bad for her. Freepaw had always hated being punished. I hoped that she wouldn't pout through the whole Gathering.

Finally, we arrived. We were the last Clan to have showed up, by the looks of it. Graystar led us down into the clearing, and went off to join the other leaders. Freepaw stayed at my side, following me as I padded toward Petalpaw and Marshpaw, Dawnflower's kits.

"They're from RiverClan?" Freepaw muttered, flicking an ear in disgust. "Why do you talk to RiverClan cats?"

"Because they're nicer than you think," I snapped. Freepaw fell silent as we joined the two ShadowClan apprentices.

"Hi, Snowpaw!" Marshpaw meowed cheerily as we approached, twitching his whiskers happily. "Who's your friend?"

"This is my younger sister, Freepaw," I replied, gesturing to her with my tail. "She just became an apprentice."

"Hi, Freepaw," Petalpaw mewed kindly. "Is this your first Gathering?"

"Yeah," Freepaw muttered.

"Why did your mother give you your name?" Marshpaw asked. "I got my name because my fur is gray, like the marsh at night."

"And I was given my name because we were born during leaf-fall, and my father brought my mother a poppy from the forest. I would have been named Poppykit, but my mother thought it didn't fit me."

"Well," Freepaw said, swelling her chest in pride, suddenly very willing to speak. "I got _my_ name because I freed my mother from the bonds that had tied her down when she was younger. Before I was born, she thought that she could only be what everyone else wanted her to be, but I made her realize that she could do whatever she wanted to do."

"Wow," Marshpaw and Petalpaw murmured in unison, awed into silence.

"Cats of all Clans!" Tallstar's yowl rang out across the clearing, and it grew silent. "Welcome, once again, to the Gathering. It brings me and my Clan great worry to announce this, but there have been reports of a large disturbance on the border near RiverClan, though we have not picked up the scent of any RiverClan cats. We believe that a new group of cats may be trying to establish a camp in our territory. We would appreciate any help we can get."

The elderly tom stepped back, and Blackstar came forward.

"ShadowClan, too, has been a witness of strange activity from a foreign group of cats. They have set up a very large camp inside our territory, and are slowly advancing toward our camp. We are losing prey, and we fear they may overtake us. We have not come in direct contact with these cats, but we know that something is going on, and we want to stop it."

Leopardstar came forward third. "There have been no reports of any disturbances on our territory, but Loudbelly recently passed away. StarClan knows we will miss him dearly. Besides that, there is nothing for us to report."

Finally, Graystar stepped forward. "I think we may know who these cats are. A new addition to our Clan, Dovewing, once lived with these cats and knows about them. We were discussing it today, and she reported that the cats are called BaneClan, a very large, strong Clan led by two cats named Snake and Blood. They wish to take over the whole forest and achieve peace among all the Clans, but I'm sure their idea of peace is very different from ours.

"There are too many cats to count in this immense Clan, and they are expanding their territory as we speak. They will take us over, one Clan at a time, and once we are out of the picture, they will be superior, and make slaves out of all the survivors."

"Then how do we stop them?" someone near the back demanded.

"Fight them off, of course," Leopardstar meowed. "Since they've gotten the farthest on ShadowClan territory, we'll start there and fight them back to where they belong. Each Clan can assemble a patrol, and we'll ambush them."

"That may be harder than we think," Tallstar pointed out. "If we take all of our strongest warriors, then our camps will be left without defense, and this 'BaneClan' could easily claim them if they so wished."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Blackstar demanded. "Go down without a fight? I don't think so!"

"There's not much we _can_ do," Graystar pointed out. "We just have to try our best and hope we can defeat them."

"Trying our best isn't going to drive out a Clan of bloodthirsty cats," Leopardstar growled. "We have to do something."

A cloud blew across the full moon then, blocking out its light.

"Apparently, StarClan does not want us to discuss this right now," Tallstar meowed. "Perhaps we should meet later to sort out a battle plan."

I turned to leave, and a dark shadow at the rim of the hollow caught my eye. I blinked, and the figure turned and darted away. I thought quickly and followed it, leaving Freepaw behind, calling my name frantically.

I dashed through the forest, forever on the trail of my target. I could hear hurried paw steps ahead of me, heading deeper into the forest. I had no intention of letting them go, even thought my tired limbs screamed in protest with every move I made.

Finally, the paw steps slowed to a stop, and I could hear panting. I crept forward silently until I could see a slender she-cat standing several fox lengths away from me. I leapt at her, knocking her onto her side.

"Please!" the she-cat pleaded desperately. "Just leave me alone!"

"Where are you from, and why did you run?" I demanded.

"I am Tallpoppy from ShadowClan," the she-cat replied. "I have an urgent message for the Clans."

"Then why did you run?" I asked again.

"I saw you, and I thought you might suspect I was from BaneClan," Tallpoppy explained quickly. "You are a fast runner; I need you to get a message to all the leaders as soon as possible. Tell them that ShadowClan is under attack by a part of BaneClan, and we don't have much time left before they take over all of us."

"Okay," I agreed, nodding. "But you should probably get back to your Clan and help them fight off the attackers." Before she could reply, I was gone.

I felt as though I couldn't run fast enough, though I had never moved so quickly in my entire life. I sprinted with every ounce of strength I had, and my chest ached for air. Luckily, by the time I got there, the leaders were still gathering up their patrols.

"Wait!" I screeched, diving into the clearing. "ShadowClan is under attack! BaneClan is invading, and we all have to go over there and help right now!"

"How do you know?" Blackstar demanded.

"Tallpoppy," I panted, desperate for fresh air. "She says that there's not much time left before BaneClan takes over all of ShadowClan."

"We have to help," Graystar decided, then turned to his patrol. "Dustpelt! Kite! Go gather as many warriors as you can from our camp, and get some apprentices, too. Everyone else, come with me!"

Then, Tallstar and Leopardstar sent their deputies back to their camp to gather warriors as well, and the rest of us dashed toward ShadowClan's border.

We all crossed the Thunderpath rather easily, as it seemed to be a bit empty that night. In almost no time at all, we were a part of the fray.

The cats of ShadowClan were greatly outnumbered, I could tell. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, and though many belonged to the cats of BaneClan, most were from ShadowClan. I jumped onto the back of the first cat I saw and wrestled him down to the ground. We tussled for a long time, until I came out victorious, though I had several large scratches on my shoulders.

_Those can be tended to later,_ I thought to myself as I searched for another opponent. Luckily, one came to me instead. It was a small tom, obviously very young, about four or five moons old, but there was a fire of malice in his eyes. He was very muscular for a kitten, and he almost brought me to the ground when he attacked me. I kicked him to the ground and slashed at his belly, then dove for his neck for the killing blow. He died quickly, bleeding from the mouth, eyes glazed over with pure hatred. I doubted the tiny cat would be going to StarClan, and my heart ached for him.

I kept fighting, sometimes with cats from other Clans by my side, but mostly I was alone. I could feel my strength slowly ebbing, but I forced myself to continue fighting.

Finally, more cats from ThunderClan and WindClan poured into the already-crowded camp. I heard screeches of surprise from the cats of BaneClan as the numbers slowly became even. We had more of an advantage now, considering many of our new fighters were full of energy and free from injury.

Birchpaw bounded to my side and barreled into the flank of a warrior who was charging toward me head-on. I mewed my thanks to him just before a large brown she-cat tackled him to the ground. I leapt onto the back of the struggling she-cat and ripped at her shoulders as Birchpaw battered her underbelly from below. Finally, Birchpaw managed to slice her so deep that she fled whimpering into the forest.

"Thanks for saving me," Birchpaw panted.

"Thanks for saving me, too," I replied.

Then, I spotted something that filled me with anguish. Freepaw's limp body lay across the camp. Blood dripped from her mouth and flanks, surrounding her in a puddle of crimson liquid. Her eyes were closed, and from where I stood, it seemed as though she wasn't breathing. I darted to her side, Birchpaw at my heels. We reached her in no time at all, narrowly avoiding BaneClan warriors.

"Freepaw!" I wailed, shoving my nose into her matted, bloody fur. The young apprentice's flank jerked and her breath was shallow and rapid. "Freepaw, please hang on! We'll get you out of the way. Come on, Birchpaw!"

Birchpaw grabbed Freepaw's scruff and dragged her toward the medicine den, where Littlecloud sat cowering in the corner.

"Please help my sister," I begged. "Please! She's been hurt, and I don't know if she'll die."

"Okay," Littlecloud agreed, taking Freepaw from us.

"Snowpaw," Freepaw croaked. "It hurts. It hurts too much."

"I know, I know," I whispered, licking her ear. "Littlecloud will take care of you, I promise."

The small tabby tom nodded reassuringly. "I'll be sure no more harm comes to your sister," he promised. "You two should probably get back to battle."

"Right," Birchpaw and I agreed, then turned and headed back toward the clearing. But the battle had already been lost. So many bodies lay mangled on the ground. Some flanks still heaved, and cries of pain rose from others. Most were still with death. The cats of BaneClan were cheering, driving the survivors toward the camp entrance. Birchpaw and I headed back into the medicine den quickly.

"They've won," Birchpaw moaned.

"We have to get you two out of here," I meowed urgently.

"No," Littlecloud meowed seriously. "If my Clan is going to crumble, I'll go with it. You take your sister."

"Littlecloud," I protested angrily. "You're coming with us. _Someone_ from ShadowClan has to survive."

"I'm sure more than one of my clanmates has made it out of this battle alive," Littlecloud reassured me. "Now hurry. I'm sure they'll be raiding all the dens for survivors soon. Get your sister and sneak out through the back."

I agreed, though I still thought Littlecloud was a mouse brain for wanting to die, and Birchpaw and I got Freepaw to stand. With each of us at her flanks, we managed to make her wobble to the back of the camp, where we quickly slipped through the undergrowth and out into the forest.

"We have to find the Clans before it's too late," Birchpaw meowed as we struggled quietly through what was now BaneClan's territory.

"I think they're this way," I replied. "Maybe if we hurry, we can get to them before they cross the Thunderpath."

After the words left me mouth, I heard a pained screech, and I knew that Littlecloud's life was over. I cursed myself inwardly for not coaxing him out of staying behind and waiting for death to come.

"Can you go any faster, Freepaw?" Birchpaw asked worriedly.

"No," Freepaw moaned. Her agony sent a stab of sympathy through my chest.

"Come on," I coaxed her. "Just a little bit farther and we'll be back with the rest of the Clan."

"I can't make it," Freepaw insisted.

"You're going to make it, and that's final," I meowed stubbornly, and Birchpaw and I picked up our pace, now almost trotting toward the Thunderpath. Freepaw squeaked and moaned in pain every time we jolted her, but we tried our best to ignore her complaints, focusing only on our goal.

Eventually, we reached the Thunderpath. The last of the Clan cats were just crossing.

"Wait!" I called desperately. "Freepaw's hurt! She needs a medicine cat."

No one heard us. A long chain of monsters rolled by just as the last cat stepped safely onto the other side of the Thunderpath.

"Let's just sit here and wait for the monsters to go by," Birchpaw suggested.

"But this is BaneClan's territory now," I reminded him. "Look, the monsters are moving really slowly. Maybe if we run, we can get across before they start going faster again."

"Good idea," Birchpaw agreed, and we got to our paws again, much to the displeasure of Freepaw. Still, we pushed on ahead, through the Thunderpath and under the slow monsters onto the other side.

The cats were far away from us now. Still, I called out to them, "Wait! It's us! It's Freepaw, Birchpaw, and Snowpaw! Freepaw's badly hurt, and she needs to be treated immediately!"

A few heads turned in our direction, and a yowl of shock rose from the crowd.

"They're alive!" It was Hollypaw. She, Larchpaw, and Kite raced toward us, their eyes filled with dismay and concern.

"What happened to her?" Kite demanded.

"We don't know," Birchpaw replied. "We just found her on the ground and escaped when BaneClan was pushing you all out of the camp."

"You're all really banged up," Larchpaw commented worriedly. "We should get you back to camp. All the cats that fought are going to be staying with ThunderClan for now, so it might take a while for all three of you to get your wounds treated, but Freepaw is most certainly a priority, I'm sure."

"We'll take the injured kit," a voice meowed. All of us turned to see Cedarheart and Oakfur standing behind us. "We can get her back to the camp faster so that Leaftail can check on her first."

"Thank you both," Kite sighed, obviously relieved. "Please keep my daughter safe."

The two toms nodded, took the groaning gray she-cat, and darted off toward ThunderClan's camp.

The rest of us went back to join the patrol. Many cats were badly injured. Some were limping, others were bleeding heavily, and even more, like Freepaw, looked close to death.

"What do you suppose they'll do with the survivors back at the camp?" Tawnypelt, a young ShadowClan warrior fretted.

"Probably kill them," another cat replied simply, shrugging indifferently. "We're lucky we managed to rescue as many as we did."

"So that's it?" another cat asked. "These cats are just going to rule us like a bunch of kittypets?"

"I guess so," another cat replied.

"Oh, this is horrible," I moaned, leaning into Birchpaw's shoulder.

"Don't worry," Birchpaw reassured me, licking the top of my head. "Everything will be alright in the end."

"But what if the end's today?" I asked. "Or tomorrow? Or two days from now?"

"We won't crumble that easily," Birchpaw meowed, and I could tell that he meant what he was saying. "StarClan won't let us. I just know it. If they wanted us to fall, they would have let BaneClan destroy us all right then and there."

"But they've got camps on almost every territory," I reminded him.

Birchpaw pressed his muzzle against mine comfortingly. "We can take 'em, Snowpaw. You know we can."

I just sighed, leaning back into Birchpaw's shoulder, and we walked that way all the way back to camp.

-----X-----

Two days after the attack on ShadowClan, Mudfur and Barkface showed up at the camp to help Leaftail and Barleypaw treat the wounded cats. I met Mothwing, a beautiful young she-cat who was Mudfur's apprentice. She was spunky, kind, and dedicated to her work. Often, she ate her meals with me and Birchpaw, who were now closer than ever.

Being close with Birchpaw made me feel whole, for lack of a better word. Amid all the destruction, his presence created a realm of calmness for the both of us. And he seemed to enjoy my company as well. Mothwing told me one day that she was kind of freaked out by the energy Birchpaw and I created when we were together, and asked me what was going on between us.

"We're just really good friends," I had replied, and then walked away to go visit Ravenkit and Fawnkit with Birchpaw.

Finally, a few cats became well enough to return to their Clans, but most were still stuck in our medicine den. Often, the elders complained about the stink the other Clans were making by being in our camp, and begged us to kick them all out. Speckletail even asked us to toss her into a river of mouse bile.

"At least it would smell better than our camp does now," she had muttered as I searched her for ticks.

Birchpaw and I did all we could to help out Leaftail and the rest of the medicine cats. But even with all seven of us on duty all day and all night, it seemed as though nothing was getting done. Heartpaw needed more cobwebs, Shrewtail's ears were bleeding again, Onewhisker's eye was infected. It never ended! I swore I was going to go insane if I had to chew up another herb for someone whose jaw was too broken to chew it themselves.

Barleypaw seemed to pay special attention to Heartpaw, the young ShadowClan apprentice. Whenever he wasn't needed with another patient, he would immediately dash to her side and slip more moss into her nest or bring her the plumpest catch on the fresh-kill pile. She _had_ to be the most pampered cat in the medicine den.

Fresh-kill was running low, too. With all the injured cats, there weren't enough cats left to form a hunting patrol, and Graystar wouldn't risk sending out any one cat alone, even if they were from another Clan. Graystar, too, was in the medicine den, as he had lost his first life.

Birchpaw and I had been let out of the medicine den after our first day, only being given cobwebs and stinging herbs for our wounds. Leaftail had simply told us to return if the wound started bleeding again or if it looked or felt infected. Neither of us went back, though, because we knew Leaftail had her hands full already, and didn't need two pesky apprentices begging for marigold.

We went for several days without hearing anything from BaneClan. I figured they must be setting up a new camp in ShadowClan's old territory, and didn't need to bother with us.

Every day or so, a small patrol from each Clan would go back to their territory to check on the cats who had stayed behind from the battle, and they would return by sunset.

Eventually, we fell into a rather monotonous routine: Wake up, eat whatever scraps can be found by what was once the fresh-kill pile, help Leaftail in the medicine den until dark, and then sleep again.

I wondered if my life would ever be the same again.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Nightpaw

Having cats from all four Clans cramped into our tiny camp was really starting to annoy me. It had been a whole half-moon since the battle with BaneClan. I understood that ShadowClan couldn't return to their camp now that it was controlled by BaneClan, but what about WindClan and RiverClan? We could at least make them all sleep in the forest. That way, the stench would be slightly more sufferable.

Whitetail of WindClan had given birth to a tiny kit during the first few nights spent with all the Clans. She had named the she-kit Willowkit. Willowkit was a tiny white she-cat who was gentle and quiet. She was a fast learner, too. She had been able to walk a few days after her eyes had opened, and how she plodded all over the camp, mewling unintelligibly to whoever was closest to her. Often, I would wake up in the middle of the night to find her lying across my flank or standing in front of me licking my nose with her tiny pink tongue. It was annoying at first, but eventually it became a rather fun game; I would try to find somewhere to sleep where Willowkit couldn't find me. She managed to find me almost every time, though.

Of course, I wasn't the only one who enjoyed Willowkit's company. Gingerpaw, Robinpaw, Hollypaw, and Larchpaw also spent much of their free time trying to entertain the tiny kit, distracting her from the horror that lay just outside the camp's sturdy walls.

It had been a whole three-quarters of a moon since the attack on ShadowClan's camp when BaneClan struck again. This time, though, it was not on an area of any importance to most of us. The large invading Clan had established borders around Barley's old barn, and the few cats who had decided to stay in WindClan had reported at least forty cats had moved into the barn and were thriving on the rats that lived in the rotting wooden structure. When this new bit of information had been reported, I wondered why BaneClan would take over such a small, insignificant part of the huge expanse of Clan territory. After a while, I settled with the idea that it could be used as a refuge center for injured or elderly members of the Clan.

Finally, Graystar, Tallstar, Blackstar, and Leopardstar, along with their deputies, came to the decision that they should speak to the leaders of BaneClan and ask them kindly to back off a bit. The four Clan leaders assembled a large patrol of cats that supported the peace treaty. I was eager to see the face of the leader of the large Clan, Firestar's sister, and so I volunteered immediately. Willowkit copied my actions, though she used no words, since she was still too young to grasp the concept of speech, but she was denied the opportunity.

Finally, the large patrol departed at sunset, heading straight for the nearest base, right by the Thunderpath. We got there much quicker than I had expected for a group of our size, and we were immediately intercepted by the twelve sentries at the entrance.

The first one, a large, muscular gray tom with a scar running across his muzzle, stopped us with a fierce snarl.

"What brings you all here?" he demanded. "Do you really think you can defeat us this time?"

"No, no," Tallstar replied, holding up his tail in a calm gesture of peace. "We have come to speak to your leaders, Snake and Blood."

"Then why have you brought such a large group with you?" the gray cat demanded.

"These are our supporters," Leopardstar replied calmly. "We wish to discuss a peace treaty with your leaders, and these cats with us support the details and wish to join in the debate."

The gray cat stood there for a moment, speculating. I shifted my weight nervously, hoping he wouldn't sound an alarm call of some sort. Finally, he dipped his head in resignation.

"Follow me," he meowed coldly. He ordered the eleven other sentries to step aside. One by one, the large group of us filed slowly through the long tunnel into the camp. I was stuck in the middle of the crowd, and was frustrated when we stopped moving. Just ahead, I could hear the gray tom shouting something, and a barrage of snarls and angry yowls followed. Then, the group started moving again, and we were suddenly in the center of the largest camp I had ever seen.

Robinpaw hid slightly behind me, quivering fearfully. I placed my tail on her shoulder comfortingly; she had every right to be afraid. Her Clanmates expected her to be long dead, and if they saw her again, they would surely kill her. Fortunately, though, her former Clan was far too occupied with the commotion going on in their camp to notice her.

Suddenly, a loud, ferocious screech silenced the whole camp. My fur stood on end, and my muscles tensed instinctively, ready for a battle. The anger in the noise filled me with the strange sensation of twisted glee, though. Then, a large black cat and a slender tabby she-cat padded to the center of the camp.

"BaneClan!" the she-cat yowled. "Fall back! To the walls!"

It took a heartbeat or two, but the cats responded appropriately, pressing themselves flat against the walls, some even cowering in the entrances to various dens.

"Now," she meowed, turning back to face our group. "What brings you all here?"

"We wish to form a peace treaty with you," Graystar replied.

"A peace treaty?" the black tom sneered. "We will bring peace to the forest once all of _you _are out of the picture."

"Please," Tallstar begged. "Just listen to us for a moment. We believe that you may find our requests reasonable."

"Fine," the she-cat meowed. "You may speak."

"As you know," Graystar began. "You have recently taken over ShadowClan's portion of territory, and killed many cats in the process. StarClan made territories for all four Clans to live in for a reason. ShadowClan cannot live without their land."

"Then let them die," the black tom snarled.

"We won't give up so easily!" Blackstar snarled.

"Silence," Leopardstar meowed warningly. Then, she turned back to BaneClan's leaders. "Perhaps we could discuss this with you in private," she suggested.

"Very well," the she-cat agreed. "Come with me." She then led the four leaders into a very small den at the edge of the camp. The rest of the group sat down, relaxing just a bit.

"This is weird," Hollypaw muttered, padding to my side. "I don't like the feel of this place. Maybe we shouldn't be here."

"Oh, relax," I replied. "None of these cats can hurt us."

"I beg to differ," Robinpaw hissed. "Any of these cats could easily take your life. To them, you're all just a bunch of soft forest cats no better than a group of kittypets. And plus, I'm not even supposed to be alive anymore. I could die if they see me!"

"Here," Hollypaw mewed, shifting backward slightly, keeping her gaze straight ahead. "Hide behind us."

Robinpaw mewed her thanks as she lay on the dirt behind us, curling into a tight ball to hide herself from view.

The three of us just sat there for a long time, occasionally receiving hostile or curious stares from the cats of BaneClan. I wondered how much longer we would be here.

Finally, Snake, Blood, and the four Clan leaders emerged from the small den.

"At ease!" Blood yowled, flicking her tails. Her clan filed back out into the center of the camp, their fur beginning to lie flat. Blood flicked her tail and, as if on cue, all of the cats sat down simultaneously.

"They're well trained," Hollypaw whispered. I nodded idly, not taking my eyes off of the seven cats standing up front.

"The leaders of the four Clans have presented their peace treaty to Snake and I," Blood began. "And we have agreed to stop attacking them."

"What?!" the cats of BaneClan cried in dismay.

"In exchange," Snake went on, finishing his leader's statement. "They have agreed to give us RiverClan's territory."

"What?!" I screeched. My cry was accompanied by the dismayed cries of the cats around me.

"I thought we came to reclaim our territory, not give it away!" one cat cried.

"What kind of leaders are you?" another screeched.

The BaneClan cats were causing a riot as well, but their opinions differed considerably.

"Good on ya, Blood!"

"That's the way to do it!"

"Silence!" Snake snarled, lashing his tail and narrowing his eyes. A hush fell over the den; you could have heard a mouse's whiskers twitch. "Now," he went on. "The leaders of ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan have agreed to include us in Gatherings, allowed us to set up our camp in RiverClan's old camp, and given us many other privileges that we were once deprived of. They have also agreed to divide themselves up into three Clans. In exchange, we will return ShadowClan's territory to them."

A few soft mews of excitement floated up from the cloud, but most of us were silent. I flicked my tail, fuming inwardly. How could Graystar let such a thing happen? I had always known him to be an honest, just cat. How could he possibly have given in so easily?

"Cats of ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, and ShadowClan," Tallstar meowed solemnly. "Please come with us." He flicked his tail, and we all stood, following the four leaders out the entrance.

"How could this happen?" Hollypaw hissed, lashing her tail furiously. "I thought the leaders would have at least put up a fight."

"We shouldn't question their decisions," Robinpaw mewed wisely. "I'm sure there's a good reason for us having to split up into three Clans and give up RiverClan's territory."

"Or not," I scoffed, flicking my ear in disgust.

The trek back to ThunderClan was uncomfortably silent. Not a single cat in the whole group spoke, and tension crackled like lightning in the air around our large group. Once we returned to the camp, we were greeted by a barrage of anxious questions.

Graystar and Tallstar leapt onto the Highstone and summoned the cats of all Clans for an extremely important meeting.

"Cats of all Clans," Tallstar meowed. "As many of you already know, we recently arranged a peace treaty with BaneClan. Fortunately, our meeting was successful, but we had to make some changes that I'm sure only very few of you, if any, will be satisfied with.

"In order to keep BaneClan from attacking us again, we had to give up RiverClan's territory."

Cries of shock and horror filled the air.

"How could this happen?"

"What about our kits?"

"Where will we live? Did you even consider us when you made this agreement?"

"All sides were considered," Leopardstar snapped, leaping up onto the Highrock. "Listen, I'm not so happy about it either, but RiverClan is strong. StarClan will guide us through this."

"Just like they guided us through the battle over ShadowClan's territory," someone muttered.

"Silence!" Blackstar snarled, joining the other three leaders atop the already-crowded Highrock. "It was StarClan's will that we lost that battle. But now, our territory has been returned to us, and we can go back in peace."

"But what about RiverClan?" a feminine voice inquired.

"That's another point of the treaty that we had to adjust," Tallstar meowed. "You see, with the loss of RiverClan's territory, we were forced to remove their name from the forest. Now, we must all become three Clans. And to make it even, we will have to move around cats from all Clans."

More cries of fury filled the air.

"This is impossible!"

"The world truly must be ending if BaneClan is controlling our lives."

"I hope the world _does_ end. That way, we wouldn't have to live in such an unfair forest."

"We could always leave."

"Silence!" Graystar yowled. "There will be no deserting. These are difficult times; we understand that. Fortunately, we tried to make this a bit more bearable. Tonight and tomorrow, all four leaders will be holding meetings in my den to discuss who will be going where. If you wish, you may join us and request to be let into a certain Clan."

"This is unfair!" someone yowled. Cries of agreement filled the air. The leaders ignored the cries, leaping off the Highrock to signal that the meeting had been adjourned.

"I don't want to leave ThunderClan!" I meowed to Talonpaw, who nodded in hearty agreement.

"We have to do something about this," he agreed. Then, his eyes lit up, and his whiskers twitched mischievously. "I have an idea. Gather all the apprentices and a few willing warriors and bring them to the top of the ravine at moonhigh."

I just nodded, uncertain of what to think as my brother bounded off toward the warriors' den. Hopefully his idea would involve a way to prevent the leaders from moving us around.

At moonhigh, Gingerpaw, Birchpaw, Snowpaw, Larchpaw, Hollypaw, and Freepaw, who was still limping slightly but had been permitted to leave the medicine den, sat at the top of the ravine along with Cloudtail, Brackenfur, Rainwhisker, Sootfur, and about a dozen other cats from the other three Clans sat at the top of the ravine. We stuck close to the shadows, watching the camp eagerly for any sign of Talonpaw. Rainwhisker and Brackenfur, who had been on watch duty, stayed out of the shadows, not having to worry about being spotted.

Finally, Talonpaw bounded to the top of the ravine, Webfoot and Crowfur of WindClan at his heels.

"Fine," Crowfur spat as he sat down among the group. "You dragged us away from sleep to the top of the ravine, and you won't tell us why. Would anyone like to explain?" The warrior's fierce blue eyes scanned the crowd, but no one replied.

"I haven't told anyone yet," Talonpaw replied, flicking his tail in irritation. "I was going to save it until I was sure everyone was willing to participate." He, too, surveyed the gathering of confused cats. I wondered what he would say next.

"So?" Rainwhisker demanded. "What's your idea?"

"We're going to get rid of BaneClan," Talonpaw hissed. "But no one else can know of our plan. You were the ones that came, and so you are the ones who will defeat them. We have to make a pact right now that this will be kept a secret until BaneClan has been wiped from the face of our forest."

"Fine," Tornear muttered, flicking his ear impatiently. "Can you just tell us how we're going to do it already?"

"Alright," Talonpaw whispered. "Now listen closely, because I'm _not_ going to repeat myself."

Then, Talonpaw went over his plan, outlining all the details to the members of our pact. Eyes brightened eagerly as Talonpaw explained the various methods we would use to take cats down one by one. Ears angled toward the ginger apprentice in rapture as he told us how we would steal out of the camp every night at nightfall, rescuing cats who were trapped in RiverClan's camp to be made slaves for BaneClan.

Finally, the tom finished his plan, seeming satisfied with the emotions he had drawn out from the group.

Questions filled the air.

"When is our first mission?"

"Where will we strike first?"

And then the most important question came up. "How do we get the cats by the Thunderpath? Their guard is heavy. There's absolutely no way we can get in there without someone noticing us."

"I have an idea," Snowpaw mewed. Silence fell over the assorted cats, and all eyes were turned on the tiny white apprentice. "Nightpaw, Robinpaw and I went to their ThunderClan base a while back," she began. "And there are patrols that run the perimeter constantly. Perhaps we could pick off cats from each patrol as they go by. They do their rounds twice, and Robinpaw knows everything there is to know about the camp. Maybe we could ask her to…"

"No!" Talonpaw meowed harshly, flicking his tail at Snowpaw. "We _cannot _bring a former BaneClan cat into this. They could go running back to their leaders and tell them of our plans. Asking for their help is absolutely _not_ an option. Understand?"

Snowpaw nodded, her ears flat against her head.

"Then we'll leave immediately," Talonpaw meowed. "Brackenfur, Rainwhisker, you'll have to sit this one out and cover for us until we get back."

"Okay," Brackenfur meowed, nodding. He and Rainwhisker turned and bounded back down the ravine to the gorse tunnel. Then Talonpaw gathered us up, and we headed into the forest.

"So, what's the plan for this one?" Blackclaw of RiverClan asked.

"We're going to the ThunderClan base," Talonpaw replied under his breath. "If we can defeat the largest group, the smaller groups won't be able to survive. And of course, we have to take out the center of the whole Clan: their leaders."

"But that's impossible!" Gingerpaw cried. "I'm sure they've got at least a hundred guards for the leaders."

"So we pick them off, too," Talonpaw replied. "Simple."

Nothing else was said as we approached the border. Once we arrived, Snowpaw and I took the lead, since we knew the land better than anyone else in the group, and we led the group to a patch of peaty earth, instructing everyone to roll in it. Once our scents were gone and the air smelled better, we crossed into BaneClan's territory.

A sense of urgency filled the air, and most of the cats fell to the shadows of the trees for protection.

"There's a patrol heading this way," Snowpaw hissed. "Tornear, Blackclaw, Rowanclaw, and Thornclaw, pick off the biggest one. Kill him quickly, so he doesn't make a noise. But if he's too loud, we'll have to kill the rest of the patrol. And fast, too."

The selected warriors positioned themselves behind a tree, and the rest of us fell to the shrubbery, crouching down low. It was rather difficult to hide all of us, since there was very little undergrowth in the area, but we managed.

From what I could see, there were three cats in the patrol: A lithe ginger she-cat, a young black tom, and a large, muscular tabby tom. They were completely unaware of our presence as they padded along, conversing silently.

They stopped suddenly, and there was hushed discussion. I couldn't hear anything due to my distance from the patrol. The two smaller cats turned away, and the large tom headed for the trees. I thanked StarClan that, so far, we hadn't run into any problems.

While the backs of the smaller cats were still turned, the group of cats behind the tree struck, leaping onto the back of the BaneClan tom. Blackclaw and Tornear leapt for his throat, tearing it out chunk by chunk. Rowanclaw managed to keep him silent by standing on his muzzle as he lay bleeding on the ground.

Suddenly, the she-cat whipped around. "Hey!" she yowled, charging toward the group of cats that were killing the tabby tom.

"Everyone, fall out," Talonpaw hissed. Together, we charged out of the bushes, heading for the ginger she-cat and the young black tom. I headed for the youngest cat, Crowfur at my side. We killed him quickly and dragged his body toward the bushes, trying to keep him from bleeding on the ground.

Finally, when all three cats had been killed, Talonpaw gathered a small patrol to take the cats to the Thunderpath and toss them into the middle to be run over by monsters. The three cats that had been assigned each took up a corpse and dragged it toward the Thunderpath; the rest of us headed back into the undergrowth to await another patrol. We had managed to keep the cats from bleeding everywhere, which made me feel a bit more relieved.

_But what about when the patrol doesn't go back to camp?_ I thought. _What happens then? Will the bodies be gone? Will Snake and Blood know we were behind this?_

Questions pounded through my head, and I grew cold with raw fear. But my fear was replaced with deathly glee as another patrol rounded the corner. Bloodlust filled my veins, and I longed to kill.

Blackclaw, Tornear, and the rest of the cats were positioned behind their trees again, waiting to strike. This time, there were only two cats, both very young. I guessed they were about four or five moons old. One was a tiny, beautiful she-kit with long, silky fur and glowing amber eyes. The other was a tom, considerably large for his age, with dull gray eyes. The cats behind the tree let the two kits get close enough, then they struck, leaping out at them, claws shimmering in the moonlight, eyes bright with glee. The she-kit was the first to go, falling limp in Rowanclaw's jaws as soon as she had been struck. She bled heavily, and her amber eyes were glazed over with fear and death.

The tom put up more of a fight, lashing back at his attackers and yowling for help.

"Help!" he screeched desperately, clawing at the intruders. "Help! Someone, anyone, help! Intruders on BaneClan territory! They've killed Blood's daughter!"

"What?" I hissed from the undergrowth. "Blood's _daughter_? We killed Blood's daughter? Talonpaw, do you know what this means? If they find out that we killed the leader's daughter, they'll attack us more fiercely than ever!"

"I didn't know she had a daughter!" Talonpaw meowed defensively.

The tom kit went limp then, falling to the ground in a bloody heap.

More cats were on the way, by the sound of it.

"We don't have time to get rid of them," Talonpaw meowed as the rest of the group ducked into the undergrowth. "We have to get out of here right now!"

We turned and bounded toward the border. We didn't stop running until we reached ThunderClan's camp.

Talonpaw led us into the camp, yowling at the top of his lungs.

"What are you _doing_?" I demanded. "They can't know we were out!"

"We have to explain our injuries somehow," Talonpaw hissed as everyone filed out into the clearing.

"BaneClan has broken the peace treaty!" Talonpaw screeched. "They attacked us while we were on a hunting patrol!"

"That's a pretty big hunting patrol," someone meowed.

"We had to stay safe _somehow,_" Talonpaw snapped back. "Anyway, we were just about to return when BaneClan struck! They stole all of our prey and tried to kill us!"

"We managed to fight them off, though," Tornear put in, going with the plan.

"This is horrible!" Graystar meowed. "We must confront them. How dare they break the treaty?"

"We have to assemble a patrol to go to their camp," Tallstar meowed, leaping up onto the Highrock.

"Right," Blackstar agreed. "Alright then. For ShadowClan, I want…"

The leader was interrupted as screeches of fury filled the air and BaneClan cats poured into the clearing.

"How did they react so quickly?" I hissed to Talonpaw, who shrugged densely.

"I guess they just knew it was us," he replied.

The fight began immediately. Clumps of fur flew all over the place, and bodies lay mangled and bloody on the ground. I headed directly for the nursery to protect Dovewing, Mousefur, Ravenkit, and Fawnkit. I fought off invaders fiercely, wounding them as badly as possible before they either fled or died. Adrenaline pumped through my veins. That, mixed with the evil glee that I was experiencing, made me feel more powerful than I ever had before. I felt as though I were walking on air. No one could touch me as I attacked them furiously.

I was so high and mighty that I was completely unaware of how badly I was injured. I was bleeding from my flanks and blood dripped down into my eyes. The crimson liquid blinded me temporarily, but I kept on fighting, filled with satisfaction as my claws met flesh.

I shook the blood from my eyes finally, and was suddenly in much more pain than I could bear. I crumpled to the ground, wincing as my heart thumped against my chest. Fortunately, no one was interested in the nursery anymore. I lay there, watching the pool of blood around me rapidly grow wider and deeper.

I felt myself drifting toward unconsciousness, but I forced myself to stay awake as a large, muscular cat pounded toward the nursery. I clambered shakily to my paws and faced my attacker as he barreled into me. I wondered why no one had come to help me as the BaneClan cat threw me aside and charged into the nursery.

Then, Birchpaw and Snowpaw bounded after him side by side. I lay on the ground, listening to the sounds of pain that were being made inside the nursery. I hoped desperately that we were winning.

I didn't have time to find out, though, because I blacked out then.

-----X-----

I didn't open my eyes when I came around again. I found the darkness rather calming, and I didn't want to see what awaited me when I looked around. I noted that it was raining. No, wait, it wasn't raining, but I was wet. The ground beneath me wasn't wet, though. This confused me, but I didn't voice my puzzlement.

I heard yawning and shuffling around me, and then whimpers of pain. Other cats were awakening, too. The only thing I could smell was blood.

Finally, when I couldn't bear it any longer, I cracked my eyes open. I wasn't in ThunderClan's camp anymore, but familiar cats surrounded me on all sides. We were in the middle of what seemed like nowhere. Short, dry grassland spanned around us, stretching to the horizon in all directions.

"Nightpaw," someone whispered. "You're awake."

I moved my head to find Robinpaw standing over me.

"Oh, Nightpaw, I was so worried about you!" she gushed.

"What happened?" I asked in a weak, soft voice.

"We lost the fight against BaneClan," Robinpaw reported, hanging her head in shame. "And so we fled for the hills. We traveled all night, too. Talonpaw and I carried you. Your brother is so sweet and strong. You're very lucky to be related to him. Anyway, we got to the hills just at dawn, and now all the leaders have patrols out surveying the area and looking for prey. We might not be able to go back to the forest."

"That's horrible," I muttered. "How's Ravenkit? And what about Fawnkit? Are they safe?"

"They're fine," Robinpaw replied. "And so is their mother. Dovewing was spotted and recognized, and she was slaughtered on the spot. Graystar's absolutely heartbroken. He's been grieving all day."

"What's all that wet stuff on me?" I asked.

"We washed your fur in the creek," Robinpaw replied. "Barleypaw says you're not too badly injured; just a lot of cuts and blood. You should be able to get up and about whenever you want."

"Will you help me get up?" I asked.

Robinpaw agreed, leaning against my flank and hoisting me to my paws. I wobbled a bit at first, then padded slowly forward.

"Good, good," Robinpaw meowed encouragingly. "But don't try too hard. I don't want you to strain yourself."

I nodded, sitting back down carefully. "Have the patrols found any food yet?" I asked, feeling my stomach growl hungrily.

"Not yet," Robinpaw replied, shaking her head. "But they should be back soon, and, with luck, they'll have found something for us to eat."

"How many cats died?" I asked.

"I don't know," Robinpaw replied, shrugging. "There were many dead bodies when we fled, but the leaders haven't announced just how many cats died."

"Oh," I murmured. "Any of my family?"

Robinpaw shuffled her paws uneasily. "Maybe," she replied. "I haven't seen Snowpaw or Freepaw since the battle with BaneClan."

I was filled with terror. "They can't be dead," I whispered. "No; they're fighters; they aren't dead."

"I'm sure they're fine," Robinpaw reassured me, placing her tail on my shoulder. The simple gesture made me feel calm, and I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply.

"You're right," I mewed. "I'm sure they'll turn up soon."

The patrols returned soon after. The hunters had brought back a good amount of food, but not nearly enough to feed the many starving, injured cats that had made it out alive. Three rabbits, a blackbird, and a toad were laid before the group of survivors, and immediately they surged forward, fighting for at least a nibble of food.

"Enough!" Tallstar yowled, waving his tail. "Haven't we already suffered enough fighting? Please, do calm down! Those of you who do not eat now will be fed later."

Robinpaw and I padded toward Larchpaw, who was looking over Talonpaw worriedly.

"Hi, Larchpaw," Robinpaw mewed. "Hi, Talonpaw!"

"Oh," Larchpaw muttered, her eyes growing dark with contempt. "Hello, Robinpaw."

"Robinpaw!" Talonpaw meowed excitedly, waving his tail in greeting. "Come here, sit by me!"

"_I'm_ sitting by you," Larchpaw meowed in irritation.

"Oh, right," Talonpaw meowed. "Ummm…Maybe you could scoot over a bit?"

Larchpaw growled. "I'm _not_ moving over for some BaneClan scum," she spat, glaring directly at Robinpaw, who flinched.

"Leave her alone!" Talonpaw ordered, his pelt standing on end.

"Why should I?" Larchpaw demanded. "She's stealing you from me!"

"What?" Talonpaw meowed, a question in his eyes.

Larchpaw stared at Talonpaw, then turned and bounded away without a word. I followed her swiftly, trying to keep up with the speedy apprentice as she fled toward the base of the hill. My limbs still ached, and I struggled to stay on my paws, but I finally managed to catch up to her. She sat beneath a tall, leafy willow, her eyes clouded with grief.

"Larchpaw?" I meowed, sitting down beside her. She shifted away in embarrassment.

"Leave me alone," Larchpaw muttered angrily, though her voice held a hint of a sob.

"What did you mean when you said Robinpaw was stealing Talonpaw from you?" I pressed, ignoring her plea.

"Nothing," Larchpaw snapped, looking down at her paws, which shuffled nervously. "Go away, please."

"Please, Larchpaw," I meowed gently. "Talk to me. You can't just hold it all in."

Larchpaw sighed. "Fine," she muttered finally. "See, I really, _really_ like Talonpaw, and we were really close before Robinpaw showed up, and now he's all over her likes bees on honey. It's just not fair!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," I meowed sympathetically, placing my tail on her shoulder. She shifted slightly, but did not shrug it off.

"It's okay," Larchpaw replied, sniffling lightly. "It's not like you told her to steal Talonpaw or anything."

Then, we just sat in silence. Eventually, she fell asleep, leaning against my flank. I was too tired to move her or return to the makeshift camp at the top of the hill, so I lay down, too, and we fell asleep together.


End file.
